Effects and Side Effects
by Pheonix Dawn
Summary: Voldemort didn't like what happened at the Department of Mysteries and viewed the connection as a liability he could no longer afford. The steps he took changed Harry's life forever, and set him on the path to victory. Fem Harry. Harry.Multi.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter. If fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Chapter 1**

Lord Voldemort was not in a good mood. Losing to Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore then being forced to run from the Aurors in full view of the ministry staff was not how he had wanted this day to end. And this didn't include the loss of 11 of his loyal death eaters, including several inner circle members. It was fortunate that they only knew enough to earn themselves a once way ticket to Azkaban and not any information that would be especially damaging. The loss of the ministry spies would be a nuisance but judicious use of the Imperio curse would solve that. Right now the only followers he had on tap were the pathetic Peter Pettigrew and the insane Bellatrix Lestrange, neither of whom were particularly useful at the moment.

To insult to injury, and injury to insult, Potter had hurt him. He had hurt him more than anyone had every hurt him before. The connection he had with Potter had become a liability. He was very angry initially that Potter had a connection with him until he had worked out how to turn it to his advantage. Now it had backfired, with unacceptable losses, both to himself and to his followers.

Voldemort sat in his study looking over the research he done when he initially found out about the connection, looking for ways he could close the connection, and possible hurt Potter in the process. He would much rather be torturing his followers for their failure but the magical exhaustion that he was suffering made that impossible. If it wasn't for the fact that his body was not actually human he knew he would be flat on his back, unable to move.

There it was. A potion he had come across then would allow him to retrieve the fragment of his soul stored in Potter that was causing the connection. And even better the potion would at the very least be very painful and included a list of potential side-effects that could give no end of problems to Potter, to Voldemort's great amusement. The best part was that Voldemort could potentially steal some of Potter's power in the process.

Voldemort snorted to himself, the golden-boy-who-lived reduced to a squib. Voldemort considered this possibility very likely. He had come to believe that it was some-how the boy was using the power of his Horcrux to enhance his powers. There could be no other way for the boy to exhibit the level of power he had on several occasions if this were not the case.

Voldemort began the brewing process, considering how to ensure that Potter would drink it sooner rather than later. Malfoy's idiot son Draco should be up to the task, provided he could follow the written instructions correctly. If not, the potion could be re-brewed but the old fool would take precautions against similar attacks in the future making it much harder to get Potter to drink it.

Voldemort knew that this quickly conceived plan had a small chance of success but there would be no way that Dumbledore would envision the he could retaliate so quickly. A surprise attack before school let out was the best option available, especially given the he needed this connection closed before it did more damage. It was early morning, before day break when an owl winged its way to Hogwarts with very explicit instructions, an even more explicit description of what would happen if the plan failed and the potion concealed within.

!HPEaSE!

Harry Potter was not in a good mood. He had lost his godfather, he had experienced a pain that was beyond that of a Cruciatus session, and he had just found out that he was the only person who could end the death and destruction of Voldemort's reign of terror. Harry had though he had been angry earlier in the year, for most of the year, but he had found new levels of anger now. He needed to. It was the only thing that stopped him from breaking down and curling into a quivering mass of tears.

His anger showed, every student who crossed his path from the Headmaster's office to the Gryffindor common room practically ran from him. In the common it was the same and the only people who could or would confront him were missing. Seamus and Dean looked at Harry as he slammed into the room, their questions dying on their lips.'

Harry threw himself onto his bed, screwing his eyes shut. His body starting to shake as the adrenaline he had been running on since entering the Department of Mysteries finally waning. It was a long night for Harry, what little sleep he got was riddled with nightmares. He felt like he could see Sirius falling through the veil every time he closed his eyes.

Giving up on trying to sleep, Harry rose, showered and left the Gryffindor tower to wander the halls until breakfast.

!HPEaSE!

At the breakfast table Draco Malfoy was enjoying the watching the Gryffindor morosely picking at his food, he wasn't yet aware of his father being arrested, and so was fully enjoying Harry's misery and the lack of his usual companions. He was going to go over to torment him when an owl arrived for him.

Pride, glee, elation, and fear were all emotions he felt, though the fear vanished quickly, his own arrogance led him to believe that there was no way for him to fail. Particularly with Potter missing the Weasel and Mudblood. The orders were simple get Potter alone, immobilise him, and force a potion down his throat. Looking up he saw Potter leaving the hall. Triggering the letter to release the potion and hiding it, he rose and followed Harry out of the Great Hall.

Malfoy wasn't the only person to receive an important letter. Susan Bones had watched the shattered leader of the DA drag himself from the table. She, along with other students around the Great Hall had been watching Harry, wondering what had happened in the last few hours to cause this immense change and where Ron and Hermione were.

The letter from her aunt had answered some of these questions. Voldemort had returned, he had been seen in the Ministry of Magic, and Harry had fought him again. And survived. There had been injuries amongst the students who had accompanied Harry which explained why Harry was alone. It was the rest of the letter that was of real interest to Susan though. Her aunt, Madam Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Law Enforcement wanted her to invite Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived, over for a day early in the summer. Reading between the lines, her aunt wanted to meet Harry and keep it very low key.

Susan wasn't totally sure that she was comfortable asking Harry Potter to visit her under false pretences, especially given Harry's current state of being. But her aunt had never asked her to do anything like this before and never would if there was any alternative. It was this thought that had her rising from the Hufflepuff table to go after Harry. Hannah Abbot, seeing her friend leaving, stood also. It was from this position that they saw Malfoy leave via the same door as Harry and a shared glance was all it took to know it wasn't going to be for any good reason.

The two Hufflepuffs were not the only students watching Harry, nor where they the only ones who followed.

Harry stalked the halls of Hogwarts, trapped between anger, misery and despair. So locked in his own emotions he barely heard the spell being cast behind him. He certainly didn't think anything about it until the ropes wrapped around him, sending him face down on the floor.

From his position Harry couldn't see the person who attacked him and he silently cursed his inattention as he listened to the footsteps closing in on him. They stopped next to him, then pain erupted in his side and the air driven out of him as a boot buried itself in his side.

The boot struck again and again until Harry was finally lifted onto his back and found himself looking up at a smirking Draco Malfoy.

"What am I to do. Scar-head lying here, completely at my mercy. Pity I can't have as much fun as I want. The Dark Lord has specific instructions about what is to happen to you. I hope you suffer." Draco ended with his usual sneer. It was obvious that he was enjoying this. He kicked Harry in the ribs several more times before pulling out the potion he had been sent and, grabbing Harry's nose forced it down his throat.

!HPEaSE!

Voldemort had been downing energy restoring potions as he monitored the link to Potter. He knew he would suffer the effects of abusing the potion but right now he needed all the energy he could get in case the Malfoy heir actually managed to pull off the plan. He knew the moment the potion entered Potter's blood stream and grinned in anticipation.

He gave the potion a moment to fully establish itself in Potter's body, then struck with full force, trying to retrieve his soul fragment and as much of Potter's power as possible.

Harry's body was sudden engulfed in a dark energy, and the familiar pain set in. Draco watched, laughing as Harry started screaming in agony.

The screams had brought Susan and Hannah running and they watched, helplessly, as Harry suffered under the dark energy.

Harry was lost in a sea of pain, unaware of the outside world. He found himself looking at a ball of white light or energy that was surrounded by darkness. The darkness seemed to be loosening itself from the white but it seemed to be trying to drag as much white with it as possible. Taking wild guess, Harry assumed that he was the white and Voldemort was the black. His only consolation was that there was more white that black.

Harry, being stubborn, refused to give in to Voldemort. He refused to let him win. Not without a fight anyway. This resolve showed immediately. The white energy seemed to solidify and repel the tendrils from the dark energy. The dark tendrils lashed at the white ball with little effect then started pulling away. As it pulled away the white ball started growing larger and brighter. Freed from the suffocating embrace of the dark energy under which it had struggled for so long, the white energy was finally able to work at its full potential. Harry, seeing this, grinned in anticipation and waited until the dark energy was nearly completely free before commanding the white energy to attack, to destroy, to cleanse. The white ball responded by sending multiple spicks straight through the dark energy and then curling around to capture it while others started tearing it apart. Dark swatches of energy floated free from the main mass and were picked up and pull into the main body, swallowed and purified they became a part of the white.

To everyone viewing Harry was bathed in a darkness so deep that it almost hid him completely from view. Draco was obviously laughing but he couldn't be heard over Harry's screaming. Susan and Hannah were stunned into inaction when two spells shot passed them and hit Draco sending him to the floor. Turning they were surprised to see two Slytherin girls putting their wands away and a Ravenclaw standing behind then.

"So, can you tell us what's happening to Potter or aren't you even able to do that."

Susan glared at the Slytherin girl.

"Malfoy had Harry tied up and forced some potion down his throat. I'm sure that you are capable of assessing the effect for yourself." She replied turning back to watch Harry's suffering.

"Padma." She addressed the Ravenclaw. "Can you run and find Dumbledore. Or anyone who might be able to help."

"Okay, Susan," and she ran back to the Great Hall to find any teacher who was still around.

Padma hadn't gotten very far when the corridor behind her flooded with white light. She looked back to see the four girls silhouetted against the light, before turning back to continued running.

"Greengrass and Davis isn't it?" Susan asked the two Slytherin girls.

"Got it in one, Bones." Daphne Greengrass drawled. Then her voice changed completely. "Any idea's on what is happening to Potter?"

Susan looked at Daphne, surprised to see that the concern in her voice was matched by an expression of concern that appeared to be very honest, on both girls' features.

"I don't know. One of his friends might know more but I haven't seen them today. At least he has stopped screaming. That and the white light instead of dark looks promising." Susan decided to give the two Slytherin's the benefit of the doubt.

They watched a moment longer before Susan found her equilibrium again. Marching forward she picked up Draco's wand and started searching the paralysed boy. Quickly finding the letter and potion vial in his pockets.

Standing back she bound Draco in ropes then looked over what she had found.

"I knew Draco was stupid but this takes it to a whole new level."

"What have you got?" Tracy Davis now entered the conversation.

"Just a letter ordering Malfoy to force Harry to drink this potion. And it's even from you-know-who himself."

"He's back? I mean, I know what Potter and Dumbledore have been saying and what has been coming from the Ministry and the Profit. But there has been no sign of you-know-who for the last year, so I've had my doubts." Daphne queried.

"Well, you can put you doubts aside. My aunt wrote me. She, the Minister of Magic, and a number of Auror's saw Him last night in the Ministry. Apparently Harry fought Him again."

"Ouch. How many times is that? And where are his friends?" Tracy asked.

"I don't know how many times it makes but I think his friends spent the night in St Mungo's." Susan replied.

"It just keeps getting worse and worse for him, doesn't it?" Daphne commented.

"I can feel the sympathy just flowing from you." Susan glared and the Slytherin briefly before turning back to the light show in front of her.

!HPEaSE!

Padma hadn't found Dumbledore or McGonagall. She had caught Flitwick and Sprout still having breakfast and convinced them to follow her.

Returning to the light show Harry was putting on the two teachers stopped in amazement.

Flitwick recovered first.

"Umm. Well. I suppose I should..." He stepped forward am waved his wand, casting some detection and diagnostic's spells and froze in shock.

"The energy levels are huge. I have no idea what is happening, the signature is unlike anything I have ever encountered. I've sent a message to Professor Dumbledore; hopefully he can shed some light on this."

"I saw Mr Malfoy force some sort of potion down Harry's throat while he was tied up on the ground. This is the potion vial; here is Mr Malfoy's wand which should be tested to see if he is the person who attacked Harry." Susan stated to Professor's Flitwick and Sprout formally. "And Mr Malfoy also dropped this letter which appears to be instructions to Mr Malfoy from he-who-must-not-be-named to give a potion to Harry at any cost." She handed the items over.

Professor Flitwick looked the letter over and shuddered.

"Thank you Miss Bones. I will ensure that these are passed to Professor Dumbledore." Flitwick looked back at the light. "But for now, all we can do is wait."

The students turned back and waited, some more patiently than others.

The light suddenly started to fade rapidly, until the dark haired figure suspended in mid air within the light became visible. The light vanished entirely and the figure collapsed to the ground.

Flitwick and Sprout moved forward to check the figure, casting several diagnostic charms.

"Well, his energy levels are low but his core seems to be huge. The only injuries appear to be some bruising around his ribs." Flitwick commented to Sprout.

"Her."

"Pardon?"

"Her. I agree that this is Harry Potter, the eyes, scar and hair confirm that, but he is now a she." Professor Sprout explained.

Flitwick refocused on Harry's body and noticed the changes.

"I ... see. This is going to cause some problems. We had better get him... uh... her to Madam Pomfrey."

Draco, still tied up but no longer paralysed with the spell having worn off started laughing again.

"So Potter is now a girl! Serve's the loser right. Or is it Pottette now?"

Flitwick turned his attention to Malfoy. With a flick of his wand he was silenced and floating in the air.

"Pomona, could you take Harry to the hospital wing. I will deliver Mr Malfoy to the Headmaster's office for his punishment."

Sprout nodded, and with a flick of her wand floated Harry and directed his movement to the Hospital wing.

!HPEaSE!

Hermione Granger was getting a little irritated at her friends. She Ginny, Luna, Neville and Ron had all spent the night at St Mungo's getting their injuries checked out. All of them except Ron had been returned to Hogwarts that morning. Hermione was still in need of some treatment but Madam Pomfrey which was why Ginny and Luna had been irritating her by ensuring that she was snugly tucked into bed instead of checking on Harry like she wanted.

Neville had already left, returning to the Gryffindor dorms. He said he would look for Harry but he really wanted to shower and change and escape from the upset Hermione. He was the last of the students to see Harry when he had chased after Lestrange after she had killed Sirius.

Hermione had finally convinced Ginny and Luna to go check on Harry when Professor Sprout appeared in the Hospital wing levitating a dark haired girl. Behind then several other girls were following.

"Poppy. Poppy can you come here quickly please." Professor Sprout called.

"What is the rush Pomona?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she appeared from her office.

"Mr Potter here was attacked and forced to drink an unknown potion. The primary purpose of the potion is unknown but there is one very obvious side effect that I'm sure that you have already noticed."

"This is Mr Potter?" Pomfrey gasped looking at the floating figure.

"Quickly, put him on his bed." She said gesturing to the empty bed next to Hermione.

"Professor Sprout?" "What happened to Harry?" Hermione and Ginny's voices overlapped.

"Silence girls!" Madam Pomfrey spoke sharply as she waved her wand over the unconscious figure.

She grimaced and cast several spells over Harry's abdomen. Pulling a small pot out of the medical bag she always carried she passed it to Tracy Davis.

"Ms Davis. If you could rub this over Mr Potter's stomach, sides and arms. I need to get some potions for him."

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey." Tracy replied, taking the pot.

She moved over to Harry's bed and started lifting his shirt to expose his stomach.

"Excuse me! What do yo think you are doing?" Ginny demanded, wand drawn but not pointing at her. Yet.

"Putting some bruise salve on Potter as Madam Pomfrey told me too." Tracy replied, ignoring the younger girl.

"And 'your' doing it because?"

"I plan on being a Healer when I graduate. Madam Pomfrey has been tutoring me since last year to help me get into the healer training program in St Mungo's."

"Then you can tell me how he is." Ginny demanded.

"Draco looks to have worked him over pretty good. He has a lot of surface bruising. I imagine that there is substantial internal bruising as well if Pomfrey is letting me do this." She said looking at the bruising already visible.

"What happened?" Hermione demanded.

"Draco tied up Harry, looks to have beaten him a fair bit, and forced a potion down his throat. Then he was engulfed by a dark light which must have been very painful from his screaming, then he was surrounded by a white light that totally obscured him from view. Then the white light faded and Harry..." Susan paused not sure how to continue.

"Harry went from being suspended in mid air to lying on the ground. And with a pair of boobs that are making me really jealous." Tracy finished absently as she rubbed the salve in.

"Huh?" Ginny was staring alternately between Tracy and Harry.

"Harry seems to have been turned into a girl." Daphne said.

"Oh no. Poor Harry. What else can go wrong?" Hermione gasped.

"Ouch. Is this from the dragon last year?" Tracy was looking at a scar on Harry's left arm that disappeared up his raised sleeve around his shoulder.

Ginny looked over and nodded.

"I think so."

"He is lucky it wasn't worse."

Tracy finished with his left arm and moved around the bed to Harry's right arm. Raised that sleeve she gasped at the two violent scars.

"What happened here?"

Ginny looked over.

"The puncture on his upper arm is from a basilisk bite in his second year and the lower arm is where his blood was stolen to resurrect Tom last year."

"A BASILISK?"

Ginny looked around at the five girls who had come in with Harry, all of whom had turned white.

"A basilisk. The one in the Chamber of Secrets."

"You mean to tell me that there is a basilisk living in this school and the chamber of secrets, created by Salazar Slytherin himself is real." Daphne finally managed to ask.

"Yep." Ginny replied cheerfully.

"I heard the rumours but..." Daphne trailed off.

"You are telling me that he survived being bitten by a basilisk? How big was it?" Tracy finally managed to re-enter the conversation.

"50 to 60 feet. Big enough to take a fully grown adult in one quick bite. We think it was Slytherin's pet."

"How is he still alive? How is he still sane? Is every year like that for him?" Tracy demanded.

"Pretty much." Hermione replied. "Philosophers' Stone and Voldemort in first year, Chamber of Secrets and Voldemort second year. Dementor's third year. Tri-wizard tournament and Voldemort fourth year and Voldemort again this year."

"How do you lot get involved with all this?" Susan asked.

"Usually a matter of one thing leading to another." Hermione replied.

"Why didn't you talk to a teacher?" Hannah asked.

"That is usually the step immediately before having to sort it out ourselves."

"Who is Tom?" Padma asked Ginny.

"Tom Riddle is you-know-who's real name."

"I had wondered if there might be something like that. I mean, who names their kid that." Daphne commented.

"What are the Professor's going to do about the basilisk? We can't stay at Hogwarts with a basilisk running around." Tracy said.

"It's dead. Harry killed it back in his second year." Ginny replied.

"He killed a 1000 year old basilisk when he was 12? By himself?"

They were interrupted by Madam Pomfrey returning.

"I have informed Professor Dumbledore about Mr Potter's injuries." She said to the girls.

"He will be down shortly to investigate what happen personally."

"Is the Headmaster back?" Hannah asked.

"Yes, Miss Abbott. He returned last night."

Madam Pomfrey turned to Harry and with a bit of spell work got him to drink the three potions she was carrying. She waved her wand over Harry again.

"Well done Miss Davis. All we can do now is wait. Please inform me the moment he wakes up."

Madam Pomfrey returned to her office.

"So getting back to Harry's... unique experience here at Hogwarts?" Daphne turned back to Ginny and Hermione.

"No," Hermione shook her head, "I don't feel comfortable telling you more. Not without Harry's permission."

"Fair enough." Susan ended the conversation with a very direct look at Daphne.

Daphne nodded.

"Do you think we should come up with another name for him? Now the he is a she?" Daphne said to change the subject.

"Harri?" Luna piped up. "Do you think he will still like girls or will he prefer boys now?"

The other girls exchanged glances.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

If fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

Thanks to all those who reviewed. There was a lot of positive feedback and I really appreciate it.

**Chapter 2**

Harry woke with a groan, his voice unrecognizable. As he became more aware of his surroundings he recognized the familiar scent and feel of the Hospital Wing.

A pair of arms lifted him up and a goblet was placed to his lips.

"It just water Harry." Ginny's voice sounded close to his ear.

Taking a few sips he felt his throat ease up a bit.

His eyes finally focusing on Ginny's concerned face.

"Hi Ginny. Are you ok? I didn't get a chance to ask you last night."

"Oh Harry." Ginny threw her arms around him and gave him a strong hug.

Harry's physical changes felt weird, but Harry was still Harry and that was all that mattered to her.

"You should be concerned with yourself. After what happened last night and this morning." Ginny's eyes started shining with tears and she gave Harry another hug.

She pulled back, blushing as a few chuckles sounded around her.

"Do you want your glasses?" She asked.

"Yeah, please. Wait." Harry looked around then reached to his face. "I can see clearly. I can see better than ever actually."

"Well that's good at least."

"How is everyone?"

"We are all ok. Luna, Neville and I were all fixed up very quickly. Hermione will be fine but she is going to be stuck in here till the end of the year making sure all the damage is gone. Ron is still at St Mungo's for observation. They don't think there is anything wrong, but they just need to have him appraised by a mind healer before they can release him so he should be back in time for dinner."

Ginny fixed Harry with a stern look. "Now how are you really? And none of this 'I'm fine' crap."

Harry slumped.

"I don't know." He replied. "I guess last night hasn't really sunk in. After trashing Dumbledore's office I haven't really been feeling anything."

"You trashed Dumbledore's office? Way to go." Daphne made her presence known to him.

Harry looked at her noticing the other girls in the room.

"Uh. What's everyone doing in here?"

"Worrying about you for some obscure reason." Daphne replied. "I don't know anything about what happened to you lot last night and I would love to hear how you trashed Dumbledore's office, but right now we're curious how your doing after Malfoy attacked you and dumped some strange potion down your throat."

"From the bruising you received, we think Malfoy did some damage before feeding you the potion. The potion seems to have caused a very weird reaction and the release of at least 2 different unknown energies. So far we really only know of one, make that two, side effects." Tracy paused.

"My eyes and what else?" Harry asked.

"Um. Harry? Look at your chest." Ginny said quietly.

Harry looked down.

Seeing how his body was now shaped he initially grabbed at his breasts. Eye's widening and face starting to turn red he pulled at his t-shirt to look down his front. What he saw made him turn bright red.

Then his face paled and he reached beneath the blanket. The blanket moved as the arm slid underneath making it obvious where he was reaching. His eye's widened further as he looked back at the others.

"I'm a girl?" He whispered.

He didn't get any further as Madam Pomfrey had returned with Padma just behind her.

"I see you are awake Mr Potter. Lets see how you are doing."

Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over him again. "The bruising to your ribs and stomach is much improved as is your internal injuries. I'm sure you've noticed that your throat is a bit tender. Apparently you were screaming in pain quite a bit, but that should clear up soon with another potion."

"How soon can you turn me back into a guy?" Harry asked with hopeful anticipation.

"I am afraid I can't Mr Potter." Madam Pomfrey replied sadly. "I believe Professor Dumbledore gave the remainder of the potion you were given to Professor Snape. So I am sure he will be able to give you some news soon. Now stay there and try to rest."

"Ok, Madam Pomfrey." Harry looked very down cast.

"It will be ok, Harry." Hermione tried to reassure her friend.

"How is it going to be ok? Tell me that. I'm a girl. Sirius is dead. Voldemort tried possessing me. And..." Harry stopped suddenly.

"And what, Harry?" Ginny asked gently.

Harry refused to respond. He just rolled away from them and remained silent.

"Harry?" Hermione asked. "Please talk to us."

Harry just pulled the covers up further.

"Did Professor Dumbledore tell you something last night that upset you? Is that why you damaged his office?" Hermione's voice was very quiet and gentle.

Harry pulled himself deeper into the blankets.

"Harry?" Hermione persisted.

"Leave him, Hermione." Susan stopped her.

"Shouldn't it be 'her'?" Came a miserable voice from the bundle of blankets.

"What's your problem, Potter?" Daphne asked.

"Just leave me alone. You're all better off without me."

"Harry? We're friends. We aren't going anywhere." Hermione said.

"You should. I'll just get you killed."

"Yeah, I've come closer to dying with you, that I would have if I wasn't your friend. But there are two reasons why you won't be able to get rid of me, no matter what."

"What are they?"

"One. You were the one who came to warn me about the troll in first year, and you stayed to save me. Two. I'm a target anyway. I would rather stand and fight, and even die if it comes to it, by your side than run and hide. At least by your side I have a chance of surviving and achieving something." Hermione was nearly yelling at this point. "So you can quit pushing me away because I'm not going anywhere other than over there to smack you upside the head for being stupid."

Harry slowly rolled back so that he could look at Hermione and the determined expression.

"Same goes for me." Ginny added. "Chamber of Secrets. Plus the Weasley's are way up on Tom's list for being blood-traitors. I owe you a life-dept and I'm going to repay it."

"I'm in too." Luna piped up. "Someone has to tell the truth. The Daily Prophet never does, so the Quibbler will take up the cause."

"But... you guys could get killed?" Harry persisted. "I can't let you get hurt."

"Voldemort's coming, Harry. For all of us. We all know that." Hermione replied. "He won't care if he hurts us. We're either his slaves or we're dead. At least let us try and stop him together. You can't do it alone. If nothing else you need people to keep his Death Eaters off your back while you kick his arse."

"Are you really doing this?" Hope had finally started showing in Harry's voice.

"We know what we are getting ourselves into." Ginny answered. "We know the risks. We know we could get hurt or killed. We are coming into this with our eyes wide open. If one of us gets hurt or even dies it will be awful beyond belief. But at least this way it means something. There are a lot of people who won't even get that."

"We are staying Harry. Just accept it so we can get on with figuring out what we need to learn to boost our chances of survival. You need your own army with its own inner circle to counter Voldemort." Luna looked uncharacteristically focused.

The effect of Luna focusing at him so intently was unnerving and Harry started to squirm.

"You lot sound like you are going to war tomorrow? Why can't you leave it to the adults?" Tracy interrupted.

"The war started a year ago, and the adults can't end this one." Harry said.

"What do you know that we don't Potter?" Daphne looked at him intently.

"I can't tell you." Harry looked down.

Susan looked at him thoughtfully. She closed her eyes momentarily then they snapped open, her expression becoming incredible intent and determined as she stared at Harry.

"Harry?" She almost snapped as she demanded his attention.

He looked at her, surprised at her intensity.

Susan straightened and pulled her wand.

"I, Susan Amelia Bones, do hereby swear my Witches Oath to Harry James Potter. My life, my magic, my mind, my body, my soul, I do bind myself to thee. And I ask my life and magic to aid me in fulfilling my oath. Will you accept me into your service?"

"Uhh..." Harry was stunned.

Hannah was staring at her friend and house mate. Seeing the look of determination of her face she turned to Harry.

"The correct response is 'I, your name, do hereby accept, her name, into my service until I release you.'"

"But, I don't..." Harry trailed off totally unsure of himself.

"Harry, she's making her decision just like the rest of us. Respect it and accept it. This is our choice not yours." Hermione stated firmly but gently.

Harry looked at Susan then nodded.

"I, Harry James Potter, do hereby accept you, Susan Amelia Bones, into my service until I release you."

They both glowed as the magic of the oath bound them.

"Susan, are you sure about this? I can release you now if you want?" Harry said.

Susan smiled.

"I am glad that you respect me enough to offer but, if you do, the first thing I will do is hex you." Susan's smile turned into a glare. "And don't you dare make that offer to me until you-know-who is dead. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, I understand you perfectly." Harry spoke very quickly. "What does that oath mean?"

"Basically I will be with you and aid you in everything. My magic will help me protect you and your secrets. I would actually die before being able to reveal anything without your permission, either willingly or otherwise."

"You would make that level of commitment to me?" Harry looked at the young Hufflepuff in a mixture of awe and surprise.

"Of course. If we are going to be your inner circle you should expect anything less."

"Good point." Ginny said. "I, Ginevra Molly Weasley, do hereby swear my Witches Oath to Harry James Potter. My life, my magic, my mind, my body, my soul, I do bind myself to thee. And I ask my life and magic to aid me in fulfilling my oath. Will you accept me into your service?"

Harry was surprised but accepted her oath, and Hannah's, Hermione's, Luna's and Padma's who added their own oaths.

The girls turned to look at the two Slytherin's.

"You lot are crazy. Basilisk's Death Eaters, you-know-who. Next you are going to tell me that we will have our inner circle meetings at the Shrieking Shack." Tracy shuddered.

"Not a bad idea. We would need to fix the place up a bit. The inside is pretty well trashed. Add some wards to make sure no one bothers us. It could be quite nice." Hermione said thoughtfully.

"Oh? And what would you do about the ghosts there when they decide to make a meal out of us." Tracy shot back.

"What ghosts? The Shrieking Shack isn't haunted." Harry said, trying to suppress a grin.

"So its reputation is totally unfounded? I suppose you know the true story then?" Tracy sniped at Harry.

"It's where Professor Lupin when to transform during the full moon's while he was a student here." Harry said with an innocent expression. "The noises were from the pain he felt and inflicted on himself."

"Chamber of Secrets, Shrieking Shack." Daphne looks amused. "You certainly have some interesting places to take girls. I wonder what dating you would be like?"

That got her a lot of stares.

"Not very good if you ask Cho." Harry's good mood disappeared.

"I wasn't planning on it." Daphne grinned. "I would rather find out for myself. When you become the more 'traditional' dating partner again anyway."

She paused, thinking. "Well, all the other houses are represented here. I might as well do my bit."

With that she swore her own oath.

"Mad. You're all mad." Tracy was looking back and forth as if trying to find an escape route.

"This is what we need to do." Daphne said simply to her friend.

"Enslaving yourselves to him is what you need to do? What sort of logic is that?" Tracy spat back.

"Hang on, enslaving yourselves to me? Susan what exactly does this oath involve?" Harry interrupted the argument between the two Slytherin's.

"Umm... She sort of does have a point. I didn't lie to you before. But from a certain point of view what she said might not be incorrect." Susan said quietly.

"From a certain point of view?" Tracy glared at Susan then turned to Harry. "If you get turned back to being male and get horny at any point you could request any or all of these idiots to shag you."

Harry paled.

"Susan? What sort of oath did you have us swear?" Hermione asked sternly.

"The strongest one I could think of." Susan shrugged. "It will use our power to assist us in protecting Harry's secrets and we can even use it to boost his power. There are probably a few other side effects as well that either weren't mentioned in the book I read or are unknown."

"Other side effects?" Hermione asked.

Susan shrugged. "For all I know we could all end up falling in love with him. Even if he isn't turned back."

"And you're all ok with that?" Hermione asked the other girls.

Ginny looked at her and mimicked Susan's shrugged. "I would have even without the oath. Can you really say otherwise?"

"I wouldn't say no to him. There are a lot of girls in the wizarding world who feel the same way." Susan said.

Hannah nodded. "Tri-wizard Tournament winner at fourteen. And he's really modest about it too."

"Those eyes are what do it for me." Padma added.

"He just accepts me for who I am. How can I not like him?" Luna said.

"His family and mine have done a lot of business over the years. There may very well be a marriage contract between our families that we may need to fill." Daphne shrugged. "Besides how would we be treated if you-know-who took over."

"You would either be a slave in one form or another or dead." Ginny said flatly.

"So either a well treated slave bound to Harry or a poorly treated slave bound to you-know-who." Daphne smiled at her friend. "Personally I choose the former. Besides, think of all the healer practice you will get patching us up."

"Finally, something that actually makes sense." Tracy grumbled. "Oh all right. Might as well keep the numbers balanced. But that healer crack is in bad taste."

She too gave her oath.

"Harry you're bright red. A little embarrassed to find out how hot all the girls find you?" Susan teased.

Harry nodded.

"What do you all see in me? I'm nothing special." He muttered.

"You cute, modest, extremely talented, noble, and a knight in shining armour to us damsels in distress." Ginny replied.

"You can do things the rest of us wouldn't even attempt and yet you have no self confidence. What happened to you? It's like you see no value in yourself, like you have no real social skills at all." Daphne spoke to him quietly.

"It's a little hard to learn those sorts of things when you grow up in a cupboard with people who despise you and a neighbourhood who think you are the local criminal." Harry muttered.

However quietly he spoke, his words were heard by all the girls around him.

"What the hell is Dumbledore thinking letting you grow up in that sort of environment?" Ginny exploded.

"Blood wards based on my mother's sacrifice." Harry replied pulling his knees up and resting his head and arms on them. "I have to go back there each year to recharge them."

"Not good enough. No wonder you are so screwed up." Hermione said. "Let me guess. You weren't allowed to do better in school than your cousin either?"

"How did you know?" Harry rolled his head on his arms to look at her.

"It's obvious when you actually think about it. You can do really well in school when you try, even if your skills lean towards the practical rather than the theoretical like mine. You can work really hard when motivated but you're not really lazy like Ron. It's more like there is something holding you back."

"If it's so obvious, why didn't you think about it sooner?" Daphne asked.

Hermione opened her mouth to respond and froze.

"I don't know?" She whispered. "I should have. I would have normally, wouldn't I? How did I miss it? How could I let my friend down like this? And why am I not more upset at the thought of my best friend asking me into his bed? Why..."

Hermione shook herself. "I don't know and it bares thinking about later, but for now we need to focus on what we do next."

"Well he obviously can't go back to his aunt and uncles. I know mum would love you to stay at the Burrow." Ginny said.

"I think you could stay at my place, at least for part of the summer." Hermione said.

"I was actually going to invite you over to my place for the day early on in the holiday, my aunt wanted to meet you, but you can stay longer if you want." Susan added.

"I wouldn't mind some company this summer either." Luna put her 2 knuts into the conversation.

"Me too." Said Hannah.

"I could probably give you some time this summer." Daphne said haughtily, and then smiled.

"My parents would prefer to stay neutral, but I could visit if it was kept quiet." Said Tracy.

"I can visit too. My parents wouldn't let me have a boy visit, even the boy-who-lived. Even if you were still a girl." Padma said.

"Thanks. All of you. I really appreciate it." Harry said quietly.

"Ok. First things first. How serious were we being when it came to opposing you-know-who?" Daphne stated.

"Very." Harry was suddenly very serious. "Susan just how good is that oath going to be at keeping my secrets?"

"Very." She answered. "It would kill us before we could reveal them, or before they could be taken from us. Occlumency training helps with this as well."

"You know Occlumency?" Harry looked at her, surprised.

"I'm learning. It takes a while but it really help with studying as you can get a near photographic memory."

"Who is teaching you? Do you think they would teach me?"

"My aunt. She might if she thought there was a good reason. Why do you need to learn?"

"My scar is also a connection to Voldemort. The whole reason we went to the Ministry of Magic was because he tricked me into believing that he have my Godfather prisoner there. Occlumency was supposed to help block the connection." Harry stopped looking thoughtful. "Although maybe it's gone now..."

"Harry?" Hermione asked.

"When Malfoy gave me that potion I saw something. White energy surrounded by this dark energy. I just knew that the dark energy was Voldemort. It was attacking the white energy and I couldn't let that happen. And I managed to stop the attack and start fighting back. I think even managed to destroy it. The ache has even gone from my scar as well."

"If the connection has gone then that's wonderful." Hermione said.

"Yeah. I think that white energy even got larger as the black energy started leaving. That's how I managed to fight back."

"Do you have any idea what you just did?" Padma was stunned. "I've read about that sort of thing. The most powerful wizards in history have been able to visualise and connect with their magical core on a personal level. It takes years. The descriptions of the energy matched what you were saying. For you to be able to do it this young is unheard of."

"Welcome to my life. Just one weird thing after another." Harry said dryly. "And I really wish I was just normal."

"While the rest of us 'mere mortals' wish for even a fraction of your natural ability." Daphne replied.

"Feel free to take as much as you want."

"I wish I could. But instead I will just have to wait until you are male again and seduce you into becoming my husband and share in your largess that way."

"What?!" Ginny screeched.

"Is there a problem Ginny?" Daphne asked politely.

"I am not going to let you just take Harry!" Ginny glared at the older Slytherin girl as the others started sniggering.

"Oh. So you want him too?" Daphne raised her eyebrows and pretended to think for a moment. "I know. I was only planning on using Harry to continue the Greengrass line. He will need someone to continue the Potter line. If you wish to volunteer to aid him in continuing his line I don't mind."

Ginny turned bright red and started stuttering.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you had a crush on him." Daphne said lightly.

She turned to Hermione. "I guess you have the next option on continuing the Potter line. If you pass then I guess Luna, Tracy and Hannah get to draw straws or something."

"You're joking right?" Hermione asked.

"A little." Daphne replied. "Harry will need a strong and respected witch as his wife to continue his line. Susan, Padma and I are the eldest children with no male siblings. We are the ones to continue our lines or they will disappear like so many others. I refuse to let my family disappear like that and there are few males in the wizarding world that would allow the wife to be the one in charge. In Harry I am sure I would have a husband that would be a political ally and allow me to run my family as I see fit."

"Do I get a say in this?" Harry finally managed to find his voice, his face bright red.

"I suppose so. But consider this. Most of the women in the wizarding world would consider you nothing more than a trophy. They see your title and not you. Even I am guilty of this to some degree. But you would have a higher degree of trust with anyone in this room, than anyone else in the wizarding world. And not just because of the oaths, although I understand that it will take some time for all of us to reach the same level as Hermione and Ginny."

The other girls voiced their agreement to Daphne's statement.

Tracy added "I need to keep this quiet though. My family is neutral and wishes to remain that way, publicly anyway. We do agree that you-know-who should be stopped though. We do not believe that he will allow us to remain neutral this time and we are not powerful enough to avoid his wrath like the Greengrass's."

Daphne turned to back to Harry. "For whatever reason, you seem to know little of the wizarding world and your responsibilities within it. Especially as the heir to the Potter family. We can teach you what you need to know. Our oaths will ensure that you can trust us. You need to learn the extent of your political power and how to wield it properly. It will be a strong aid in fighting you-know-who. You will be able to challenge any move by his allies to pass laws that increase his hold on the Ministry. Particularly if we and our allies all work together."

Madam Pomfrey bustled over. "No girls, I decided you could you stay because I thought you wouldn't be causing any problems. But you have been getting a bit noisy so I need you to leave. Professor Dumbledore will be here soon anyway."

"Ok. May we return later?" Ginny asked.

"If you do not disturb my patients." Was the reply.

The girls standing around the two beds said their goodbyes and left.

"Are you ok Harry?" Hermione asked, breaking the sudden silence.

"Not really. There has been a bit too much to deal with over the last 24 hours and I just need time to think. What Daphne said will require a lot of thought on its own." Harry replied.

"Just so you know, I am always here for you. No matter what, or how much you push me away."

"Thanks."

They sat in a comfortable silence.

Albus Dumbledore showed a few minutes later.

"Miss Granger I trust you are doing well?" He asked Hermione.

"Still a bit sore, but much better thank you, Professor." She replied.

"Capital. I'm sorry, but I must silence this conversation." Dumbledore waved his wand for a minute, ensuring that no one would hear what happened next.

"Harry, my boy. How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Fine, Professor. Do you know when I can get turned back to normal yet?"

"I don't have an answer for you yet. Professor Snape has begun his analysis but his initial results indicate that it will be at least a couple of months before he can give us any definite information about the potion you were given." Professor Dumbledore paused.

"The potion triggered a release of some strong but obscure energies that we are not yet able to identify. Is there anything you can tell me about what happened?"

"Not that I can think of right now, Professor." Harry replied. "What will happen to Malfoy for his attack? I understand there was proof that he was following orders from Voldemort."

"Don't worry yourself about Mr. Malfoy, Harry. He will be punished for his actions."

"Punished? Shouldn't he be expelled?"

"If he is expelled he will run straight into Voldemort's arms. I do not wish to do that to him."

"So he basically gets away with his actions, as always." Harry grumbled.

"My actions are for the greater good, Harry. You must learn to look beyond your own desires for vengeance."

Harry nodded in silence, pretending to consider Dumbledore's words. In reality he was filing them away like the other inconsistencies for future reference.

"Professor, do I still have to go to the Dursley's? There is no way they will be able to put up with the changes I have been through."

"Yes, my boy. The wards there are still the best protection from Voldemort available for both you and your family. I am sure that your aunt and uncle will be accepting of your changes. I have already written to inform them of such. Make sure that you stay within the wards as much as possible, indoors would be best, but do not leave the property. You should keep your mail to a minimum to reduce any possible attention to your neighbourhood. I will try to get you out after your birthday, but we do need the wards to be as strong as possible."

"Professor, about what you told me last night. Are you going to provide me anything to study or a means to start training?" Harry asked.

"There is no need to rush into these things, Harry. You've just suffered a great loss. Take the summer to work through it. Those things will wait for the next year. This is not your problem and you should take this time to enjoy the remainder or you childhood. Unless there is anything else, I will see you next year Harry." Dumbledore rose and cancelled the wards.

"Good day to you too, Miss Granger." And with that, he left.

"Well, it looks like I will be staying here for the rest of the year with you, Hermione." Harry finally broke the silence.

"Well, it will be nice having some female company." Hermione teased.

Harry glared at her, but there was no heat in it.

"We can at least plan out our summer." He said.

"But you have to go back to the Dursley's?" Hermione seemed puzzled.

"With the way they treat me normally? You know I can't go back." Now Harry was puzzled. "You were up in arms before about how they treat me."

"But Professor Dumbledore said you had to go back?"

Harry's eyes narrowed in thought, then widened in suspicion and surprise. Pulling his wand he cast the most powerful Finite Incantatem he could at Hermione.

Hermione blinked in confusion for a few seconds, then her eyes widened is realisation. Her expression darkened suddenly.

"Why that... that... Arrggghhh!! How could he do that to me?!" Hermione exploded. She followed this up with a list of expletives that Harry found most impressive, and told her so, not that she heard him.

"Whatever plans we come up with this summer, I going to make sure that there is one that involves kicking he ancient arse." Hermione finally finished her rant.

"Feel better for that?" Harry asked lightly.

"Much better thank you." She replied. "First, we had better get our thing brought down here."

Harry nodded. "Dobby?" He called.

With a quiet pop the excitable house elf arrived.

"The great Harry Potter has need of Dobby? What can Dobby do to help the great Harry Potter?" The eccentric house elf gushed.

"Can you pack and bring all of mine and Hermione's belongings here please? If it's not too much trouble?" Harry asked politely, aware that he was risking Hermione's wrath.

"No trouble at all, Harry Potter." And Dobby vanished.

"Thank you very much." Harry said into empty space.

"That house elf is a tad excited, isn't he?" Daphne commented to the other girls.

Harry looked at the girls who had returned unnoticed.

"Didn't hear you come back?"

"Not surprising with the way Hermione was carrying on. Whose arse are you planning on having us kick?" Ginny managed between stifled giggles.

"Dumbledore's. He put some sort of confundus charm on me. That's why I never challenged Harry's living conditions." Hermione was still visibly upset by this.

Further conversation was interrupted by Dobby's return with the two trunks, which he neatly set at the foot of the two beds.

"Is there anything else Dobby can do for the great Harry Potter?" Dobby squeaked as he bounced excitedly.

"Not right now, Dobby. Thank you for this. I will call if I need anything else." Harry replied.

"Dobby is happy to be of service to the great Harry Potter and his chosen companions." And he vanished.

"Chosen companions? I don't recall choosing any of you as a companion, let alone all of you." Harry was very surprised by that.

"Umm." Susan was very hesitant. "He may just have been a bit confused by the oath we gave you."

"Or the oath may have effectively married us to him." Tracy glared at Susan.

"Or it could have effectively married us to him. At least until he releases us after he beats you-know-who."

"Yeah, but what effect will it have on us in the mean time? Will we want him to release us when the time comes?"

"I don't know. But the oath my not have as much bearing on that as you may think. From what I know, it can't create or force feelings between us and Harry. It may possibly encourage any feelings that occur naturally though. I don't know for sure on that last bit though."

Susan turned to Harry in an attempt to change the subject.

"So, Harry. How soon before you become a man?" She tried making a joke of it.

"No idea. Unless a miracle happens, we will probably be back at Hogwarts before I know anything." Harry looked depressed.

"Well, look on the bright side. You can get an understanding of what it's like to be a woman that no man's ever experienced before." Hannah tried cheering Harry up.

"Excellent. I get to feel like a pervert simply by looking at myself in the mirror. I wonder what taking a shower will be like? I will probably be embarrassed just by being there with myself." Harry's reply was very snarky.

"Take it easy Harry. We get this is going to be hell on you. Particularly if the transformation is as complete as it appears. We are just saying that you should feel free to explore your new body so that you're not embarrassed by it. I'm happy to give you some pointers if you want." Daphne said.

Harry turned bright red and started stuttering.

"Sorry, Harry." Daphne started giggling. "I couldn't resist. You are just so easy to tease. I know I shouldn't but I just can't help myself."

Harry just glared at her.

"Ginny, can you help me with my trunk please?" Hermione asked.

Ginny nodded and moved the trunk to the other side of Hermione's bed and opened it.

"I want to sort through my clothes. They won't take being transfigured very well but we should be able to resize them to fix Harry for the next few days until we can take him shopping."

"I can make to with my stuff for the moment." Harry interjected.

"Only because they are about 20 sizes too big for you. You still need some female clothing. I have a few things that are too small for me that you can use. We will have to take you shopping within a couple of days of getting home." Hermione scolded him gently.

"Shopping? Count me in. I can help you find all the right styles for any occasion in Diagon Alley." Daphne was really excited.

"Now you've done it. Daphne here just loves shopping. She would shop all day, every day if she could. The only upside is that she is not as bad as her mother. Now there is a dedicated shopper." Tracy groaned.

"Well, I believe that we can get a few things in Diagon Alley." Hermione sniffed and looked down her nose at the two Slytherin's, affecting a snobbish air. "But you really have no idea of what true shopping is until you have done it muggle style."

Daphne grinned at Hermione's acting. "Better not let my mother hear you say that. You would never hear the end of it."

"Is muggle shopping really that good?" Hannah asked.

"All I will say is that no self respecting girl should say a word against it until they have given it an honest try." Hermione replied.

"Ok. Mass shopping trip the day after we get back. Hermione can show us how it is really done." Daphne suggested. She paused. "Let's just try and keep this from my mother though."

"Yes please." Tracy nodded vigorously in agreement. "She is just a little 'over-enthusiastic'." She added by way of explanation to the others.

The others laughed.

"Hermione? You actually wear this?" Ginny was holding a rather small pair of underwear and starting to blush.

Hermione grabbed it. "You don't need to show everyone. And don't knock it till you try it." Hermione looked her younger friend up and down. "Actually, it might just be your size."

This got Ginny bright red.

"There are probably a few things your size in here. I was going to give them to charity but grab what you want. Harry will only need a couple of things to see him through until we can get him properly fitted out."

"Thanks, Hermione" Ginny said quietly.

Hermione smiled and gently squeezed her hand.

The door to the hospital wing opened and Professor McGonagall can in. She was still using a cane and was moving a slower than normal as she made her way to the beds her students were currently residing in.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, Miss Weasley, I trust you are all well."

"Yes, Professor. And yourself?" Hermione replied.

"I am doing well. Thank you for asking." McGonagall turned to Harry. "How are you coping with your recent changes?"

"I doing ok for the moment. I expect that there are a few things that I am going to struggle with though." Harry replied.

"If there is anything I can do to help?"

"Actually, there is something you could do?" Hermione asked. "Could you resize these for Harry? They only need to last a few days, until we can take him shopping." She indicated a small pile of clothes on her bed that Ginny hadn't claimed.

"You don't need to." Harry said. "I can manage with my stuff."

"Mr. Potter, for the time being you are a girl, and I expect you meet a certain dress code any time you are outside either the Gryffindor dorms or the Hospital wing. And that means that I expect you to wear a bra to ensure that you are properly 'restrained'." Professor McGonagall said sternly.

"I don't expect to be going anywhere." Harry looked down.

"You will be leaving to go to the train station even if you avoid every meal and the end of year feast in the great hall." McGonagall looked at him sternly.

"Alright." Harry said resigned to his fate.

Professor McGonagall waved her wand over the small pile of clothes that Hermione had indicated.

"They should fit now. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Umm. Yes actually." Harry was very hesitant. "Do you have any material on the Animagus transformation. I was thinking about becoming one and I was hoping to use the summer to do some study and research to prepare. I was hoping you might have time next year to help me. It's one of the few things I can think of to bring me a little closer to my dad and godfather." Harry looked sad.

"I think I can help you, but only if you promise that you do not attempt this alone."

Harry nodded vigorously. "I promise. Thank you Professor."

Professor McGonagall graced Harry with a rare smile. "I will have a few books brought to you with a suggested reading order. This will be a lot of work, but I have every confidence in your ability to succeed. I will see you later. Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, Miss Weasley, girls."

With a polite nod, Professor McGonagall left.

Having watched the Professor's slow progress, Hermione seemed quite sad.

Ginny leaned over and gave her a hug.

Watching them for a moment, Daphne decided to take charge.

"Okay, Potter. How serious are we about taking on you-know who?"

Harry raised a finger to stop Daphne as he got out of bed and opened his trunk.

"Can any of you raise some privacy wards or something to keep this private?" He asked.

He got nods from Daphne, Susan and Padma.

"I would help but I'm not allowed to use magic for the next week. I have to conserve my magic to help my healing." Hermione said.

"I think we can manage." Daphne said as she watched Harry pull an old piece of parchment from his trunk. "What is that for? I don't think writing our plan down is particularly secure at the moment."

Harry grinned at her. "You'll see."

He sat back down in bed and Tracy pull the covers back up. Harry glared at her briefly but she ignored him.

"Wards please." He waited while the three girls secured the area around to the beds.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Harry studied the parchment and nodded. "We're alone."

As he laid it down on the bed the map became visible to the others. They stared at the map in wonder as they realised what it was.

"Where did you get that?" Susan asked.

"Fred and George actually. It was made by my dad and his friends when they were here." Harry grinned.

"This is impressive but we need to focus." Daphne said.

Harry nodded and took a deep breath.

"The room in the Department of Mysteries that we were lured to by Voldemort housed all the prophecies that the Ministry has collected over the years. One of them relates to me and Voldemort. It basically says that I am the only person capable of beating him. I have to beat Voldemort. No one else can, not Dumbledore, the Auror's or anyone else. The only things that I have in my favor are that Voldemort doesn't know the full prophesy and that I have 'a power he knows not'."

Harry sighed. "So who wants me to release them from their oath?"

"Shut up, Harry." Ginny said and threw herself on him and hugged him strongly. She burrowed her face into his neck as she felt her eyes tearing. "I am not going anywhere, you hear me. I'm not going anywhere so don't you dare push me away."

"When did you find out? Neville said the prophecy was destroyed." Hermione was crying as well.

"Last night. Dumbledore sent me to his office just after Voldemort escaped. He told me when he finally came to check on me."

"That explains why you were such a mess this morning." Daphne said quietly.

"If I found that out I would go ballistic." Susan said.

"I did. This was just after I saw my godfather die. He was about the only family I had left. I totally trashed Dumbledore's office."

"And he let you? He didn't take your wand or something?" Tracy asked.

"I wasn't using my wand. But he did say that he probably had too much stuff."

"Was it wandless magic or accidental magic? Because either is really unusual at our age." Padma asked.

"I don't know. I wasn't in control of it but it was doing what I wanted."

"Any other unusual tricks you can perform?" Hannah asked.

Harry paused staring at his wand as he remembered something. He put his wand down on the covers and focused on it intently. "Lumos." He said firmly and intensely.

The girls gasped as the wand lit up.

"Very impressive." Susan said. "Wandless magic already? If you really practice you could get really good at it before you graduate. It would be a really big advantage."

"Focus ladies. And Harry." Daphne tried to get everyone back on track. "In order to do this properly we need a plan of action. Right now we need to learn everything that you can tell us. We may pick up on something you've missed. A Pensive would be good if we had access to one."

"I have had some thoughts. Animagus training, dueling, and we need to learn as much as possible. We don't know what we're up against, so we don't know what we'll need to know until it's too late." Harry said.

"Healing, wards, ward breaking, runes, arithmancy. We will need to know how to protect ourselves and homes, and break into others. Runes helps with that and also enchanting objects to help us. Arithmancy will help in a number of ways, especially creating new spells which will give us an edge in a fight. Silent casting will be a must, particularly with new spells. They won't stay a surprise very long if we are shouting them out every time and silent casting is also faster when you perfect it." Daphne contributed.

"The older wizarding families have libraries with spells and information known only to that family. IF we can get access to each other's then we can search them for anything useful." Susan added.

"Family specialties and such." Padma agreed with Susan.

"If we get political allies in the Ministry and Wizengamot then we can block laws from you-know-who's allies and maybe even reverse some of the damage that has been done." Hannah said.

"We need funding though. For equipment and raw materials. We may need to bribe a few people. And if there is any way we can use magic over the summer that would be an advantage as well." Tracy commented.

"I can talk to my aunt and see if she can get us exemptions. It's a long shot but if I can convince her of the need then maybe?" Susan replied.

"Well, the Potter family is rich and Harry should be able to get access to it, if not immediately then when he turns 16. Even if he has to become emancipated. Most of us have trust vaults with a bit of money and..." Daphne trailed off.

"Harry, is there really the remains of a 60 foot basilisk that you killed hidden somewhere in this school?" She was looking very intently at Harry.

"Yes. In the Chamber of Secrets. I don't know exactly how long it is though, I didn't get a chance to measure it, but 60 feet is a good guess." Harry replied.

"Hannah, your family is in the potion ingredients trade, you must know how to rend an animal into its ingredients?" Daphne asked.

"Yes. I will need a lot of stuff from my family to store it in though." Hannah answered. "If I can have some reference books sent as well then everyone can help. If Harry is as powerful as everyone thinks then he may be able to skin it in one go. That will preserve the value of the hide. All up it should definitely break the 100,000 Galleon mark or more. If it really is 1000 years old, that is."

"Well, I didn't get a chance to ask its age before it tried killing me. But I sure that you clever witches can come up with a way of finding out." Harry replied sarcastically.

"I can get some equipment from my parents as well. If we send the letters at lunch then we should get everything before the end of tomorrow so we can sneak down to the Chamber tomorrow night." Daphne said. "Right now I think we need to hear Harry tell us everything so we'll have all the background."

Harry nodded and began his tale. Only pausing for water and lunch, when the letters were sent, two for equipment from Daphne and Hannah and two to see if Harry could stay for the summer from Hermione and Susan.

!HPEaSE!

Lord Voldemort awoke slowly, his head pounding in pain. How had that blasted brat beaten him again? He didn't know the details but he knew it was working initially, he could feel, almost taste, the energy he was trying to steal from Potter. And then it stopped. He had fought to try and keep going but got nowhere. Then the pain started. Somehow the brat had fought back. Pain unlike anything he had ever felt before wracked him. Even the failed possession had been relegated to second place.

He had to find out what happened. And he had to punish that Malfoy brat. He must have failed somehow.

Voldemort collapsed back down. Right now he could barely move. Two failed attempts on Potter and potion abuse after-effects had sapped all his strength. He couldn't even call for help. He could not afford to look week in front of his followers.

Sometimes being a Dark Lord really sucked.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

If fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

Once again, thanks to all those who reviewed. I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter posted. I have been more focused on getting the chapters written. I currently have another five chapters for proof reading which will be posted individually once each is done.

Thank you for your patience.

**Chapter 3**

Harry left the bathroom in the Hospital wing totally red faced. Hermione looked at him and nodded sympathetically.

"Was it that awkward?" She asked.

"Worse. It felt just wrong to even be in there with myself, like I was perving or something. And this is me, for the moment." Harry looked depressed.

"It will get better. Eventually. I'm sure of it." Hermione tried to reassure her friend.

The girls rejoined Harry and Hermione in the Hospital wing after breakfast. They brought more bad news.

"I'm really sorry, Harry." Ginny said. "It's all over the school. They all know that you're a girl now."

"Just great. How is everyone taking it?" Harry asked.

"About how you expect." Ginny said. "The DA are all for hexing Malfoy and the rest are concerned."

"Malfoy's followers amongst the Slytherin's are laughing. But the rest are keeping quiet." Daphne added. "What is Dumbledore doing about Malfoy? He didn't seem worried in the common room last night."

"Dunno. He seems to think that expelling him will push him straight to Voldemort. Like that won't happen anyway." Harry answered. "Of course, I don't think Voldemort is going to be too happy with Malfoy at the moment. I don't think that yesterday when quiet as he planned. And when Voldemort is displeased he inflicts in on everyone else."

"Maybe he will off the bastard and save us the trouble." Ginny said.

"This is why there are families that refuse to follow Dumbledore." Tracy said. "It's not that we like or agree with you-know-who or the pure blood philosophy. It's that Dumbledore rubs them the wrong way. Malfoy should have his wand snapped and be thrown in Azkaban. But no. Dumbledore thinks he can be saved. Would he still think that after he starts murdering people? Probably!"

"Is that really true? Are there people who would join us if we were firmer on the Death Eaters?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. There are a lot of families who believe that Death Eaters deserve to be executed for their crimes and the Auror's should be able to kill them and any witch or wizard who shows up in Death Eater robes or wears the dark mark." Daphne replied. "Dumbledore has been the biggest opponent to this. He believes that we shouldn't sink to 'their' level."

"What if they truly were under the Imperious curse?"

Daphne shrugged. "It takes a powerful wizard to hold more than one person under it. There are very few who could control several. And it needs to be reinforced constantly if you want to hold them under for a period of time. You are fighting their will with your own. The spell helps a lot from what I know, but it still takes a lot. Even more when you start telling them to do something they hate."

"Well that's good. We won't have to fight armies of enslaved wizards." Harry commented lightly.

"No just real Death Eaters." Tracy snapped.

"Tracy." Daphne warned.

"Okay. I'm sorry." Tracy slumped. "It's just that we are talking about fighting you-know-who and Death Eaters. We are going to have to kill some of them. You lot do realise this don't you. You won't get far using stunners."

"She has a point." Hermione said. "We kept stunning them in the Department of Mysteries and the others just woke them up. I hate this, but we are going to have to act like soldiers in the muggle military. When they go into a fight they don't want or like killing, but they know that when the enemy attacks it's "kill" or "be killed" and worry about the consequences later, if you're still alive."

"Wow. We are really doing this aren't we?" Ginny said quietly.

"Yes." Daphne said firmly. "I got a reply from my family. I will have everything by tonight, so we're still on?"

"I'll have everything ready by tonight too." Hannah said.

"Are we all in?" Harry asked.

All the girls nodded.

Harry looked directly as Ginny. "Are you going to be okay?"

She closed her eyes for a minute. "Yes. I think I have to do this."

"Okay. We are all here for you. If you need help just say."

Ginny nodded.

"Right. I think we call it a day for now." Harry took charge. "Take it easy and rest as much as possible. We meet in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom tonight. Is 11pm a good time to meet?"

"Yeah, that should be late enough to avoid everyone and still give us enough time to do everything." Daphne said.

The other girls nodded. They all said their goodbyes and left, leaving Harry alone with just Hermione and Ginny.

"So how are you adjusting to life as a member of the fairer sex?" Ginny asked.

"This morning has been the most uncomfortable one in my life. So uncomfortable I don't I will ever be able to top it." Harry replied, turning red as the memories of his morning resurfaced.

"I'm guessing it was the shower that really got him." Ginny said to Hermione.

"Yes." Hermione nodded before turning to Harry. "You know. We should tell you a few things about female hygiene that you need to know. Area's that are important to keep clean. Charms for shaving and such," she teased.

"Oh Merlin, please spare me." Harry started burrowing under the covers in an attempt to hide.

"I'm sorry, Harry. But as long as you are a girl you need to know these things. You can get all sorts of infections and things if you don't look after yourself properly. And, as your friends, we feel it is important that we help you as much as possible."

Harry had never blushed more in his life as his two female best friends gave him the full rundown on what it's like to be a girl.

"Come on Harry. Get out from under there. We've finished." Ginny said, once they had done as she dug Harry back out from the covers. "I am really sorry but you did need to know. Although, you being the embarrassed one made it easier on us."

"Glad to be of service." Harry grumbled as he was pulled back into a sitting position.

Ginny sat next to him and enfolded him into a hug.

"It's going to be okay, Harry." She said quietly. "It will get easier. I promise. Hermione and I both manage. I know that asking us the question you have to ask will be hard and embarrassing but we are here for you and we want you to ask us."

"Thanks." Harry looked at her, then over at Hermione seeing her in complete agreement. "Thanks both of you."

"Anytime Harry." Hermione replied.

"You know, Harry. Hugging you is really different now." Ginny commented.

Harry blushed again, setting his two friends laughing again, but the awkwardness has passed for the moment.

The three friends chatted, letting Harry recover from his ordeal. There were many more he would have to suffer though in the coming days, weeks and months. His two friends knew he would have to face them all but; luckily, it didn't have to be all at once.

!HPEaSE!

It was nearly lunch time when Professor McGonagall returned carrying the books Harry had requested. She was also carrying his Firebolt.

"Here you go Mr Potter. I'm sure you will be happy to have your broom back as well. I would have had it back to you sooner but Professor's Flitwick and Hooch and myself checked it for tampering first. Here is the reading order as well. I recommend you follow it to make things easier. Now, remember your promise." She finished sternly.

"I know. Don't try this alone. I have no intention of it. I have some awareness of what could go wrong and have no intention of experiencing it myself." Harry replied. "And thank you so much for returning my broom."

"Very good, Mr Potter. There is some information on what could go wrong, how to avoid it and how to reverse it as reference. It is important you study that part as well. It will help you avoid any mistake that others have made in the past. Do not assume. However, that these are the only things that could go wrong. Knowing you, you will manage to do something these books state as impossible." Professor McGonagall finished with a rare small - but tender smile.

"Professor? Is it possible to lengthen Harry's hair?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Yeah, Ginny. Why?" Harry looked concerned.

"Well, since he is going to be a girl for a while, I thought it might be nice to make it work for him, rather than just leaving him to suffer the effects."

"A better reason than I was expecting, Miss Weasley. Mr Potter?" Professor McGonagall turned to Harry. "I do need your permission."

"Uh. Do I have too?" Harry's expression was almost comical.

"Please Harry. You would look really good with longer hair while you're a girl. It's like Gred and Forge. When one of their pranks back fire they play to the effects so it's not so embarrassing." Ginny pleaded.

"I think you should consider it. You wouldn't look so out of place over the summer. You hair really doesn't match your new look." Hermione added.

"I don't really want long hair though." Harry said.

"I know. You don't want to look more girly than you have too." Hermione said, getting a nod in return.

"You have to consider the fact that it looks like you will be a girl for the entire summer. And you will stand out more if you don't. You can get it cut as soon as you are turned back." Hermione tried persuading her fellow Gryffindor.

"Okay. You're right. As always." Harry looked resigned. "Not too long though please Professor."

Professor McGonagall nodded and waved her wand over his head, lengthening his hair to a little below his shoulders.

"That felt weird. So, does it meet your approval?" Harry pushed the hair back getting it off his face before he began eating it.

Both Hermione and Ginny nodded.

"Yes, Mr Potter. That looks much more suitable." Professor McGonagall looked at her handiwork. "Yes, definitely much better. I expect you to keep yourself properly groomed. I won't have you treating my work with disrespect."

"Yes, Professor. And I am sure both Hermione and Ginny will be able to help, Or do it for me." He finished with a glare at his two friends.

An ineffectual glare as they both just grinned devilishly back.

"If that is all I will bid you all good morning." Professor McGonagall turned to leave. "Incidentally, Mr Longbottom is outside waiting for Madam Pomfrey to allow him to visit. Would you like me to send him in?"

"Please, Professor. And thank you again." Harry replied.

"You're welcome Mr Potter."

Neville came in looking nervous.

"Hi Harry. I heard you were back in here. They were saying you had been turned into a girl. I didn't want to believe it but..." He trailed off as he took in Harry's new appearance.

"I don't want to believe it either but the evidence is undeniable." Harry replied dryly.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, all things considered. How are you after the Department of Mysteries?"

"I'm okay. I wasn't badly hurt. They healed me up in a jiffy."

"Well, I am really sorry about getting you hurt, and your wand broken. It was your dad's wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about any of it. It wasn't your fault. I'll be able to get my own wand now. Gran owled me saying she was really proud of me and would get me my own wand as soon as I get home."

"Congratulations, Neville. You deserve all the praise you get. You are a really strong wizard and now you and everyone else knows it."

"Thanks, Harry."

Neville had been turning redder and redder as he took in his roommate of five years new form.

"Uh, I uh, umm. I just be going." He stuttered. "Glad you're okay though Harry."

"You too, Neville. Catch you later."

They watched as Neville practically fled from the room.

"I wonder what Ron's reaction will be?" Harry commented as the door shut behind Neville.

"Probably stare at your boobs and stutter." Ginny giggled.

"Where is he anyway?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. Still at St Mungo's I expect. He had to stay longer to see a mind healer. It may just have taken longer to check that he is okay than expected." Hermione replied. "Madam Pomfrey may be able to tell us more."

"I just realised. Why hasn't half the school come traipsing through those doors to gawk at me?" Harry pondered.

"Madam Pomfrey has locked the doors to everyone who does not have a legitimate reason for being here. Our group of girls already know and have proven that we will behave ourselves so we can visit as necessary. But others like Neville can only come in with permission. Mostly to preserve your privacy, Harry." Ginny replied.

"For once I'm glad of her strict policies. The last thing I need is everyone sneaking in to stare at me." Harry was relieved. "And for once she won't have to listen to my complaints about not being able to escape."

"Well I am glad of that, Mr Potter." Madam Pomfrey surprised everyone. "It is nearly time for lunch, Miss Weasley, why don't you head down to the Great Hall and let my patients get some rest."

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey." Ginny replied. "See you two later." And she was gone.

Waving her wand over first Harry then Hermione, Madam Pomfrey nodded. "You are both healing nicely. You should both be able to attend the end of year feast tomorrow if you wish but you are both welcome to return here immediately afterwards."

"No problem, Madam Pomfrey. Although I may not attend the leaving feast." Harry replied.

Madam Pomfrey smiled at him. "I understand dear. Now here are your potions and here is your lunch. And I want you both to rest."

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey." Harry and Hermione responded in unison.

After she had gone Harry looked over at Hermione. "You know, this has to be the first time that she has given me permission to leave and I don't want to."

Hermione giggled. "There is a first time for everything."

"We should do as she says and get as much rest as possible this afternoon." He said pompously, ignoring her.

"Yeah, 'cause we won't get any tonight." Hermione shot back.

Downing the potions and then their lunch they settled down to rest. The fact they had both been injured made it easy to doze off until evening.

!HPEaSE!

Harry and Hermione were quietly prepping for their evening excursion when Tracy Davis snuck into the Hospital wing just before curfew.

"Tracy? What happened? Is everyone okay?" Hermione asked rapidly.

"Everyone is fine. I just remembered that Madam Pomfrey likes to check on everyone during the night. We have to make sure she sleeps through or she will notice that you're missing."

"Do you know a charm that will make her sleep?" Harry asked.

"Yes but I don't know how I will cast it on her without her noticing."

"Open my trunk. There is a cloak on top that will help."

Complying with Harry's suggestion, Tracy look up in awe as she pulled out his invisibility cloak.

Harry grinned at her and motioned for her to put it on.

Disappearing under the cloak, Tracy moved to wait quietly next to Madam Pomfrey's office.

Harry and Hermione chatted about their studies while waiting for Madam Pomfrey to make her appearance.

When she showed up a few minutes later she performed her usual checks and asked if either of them needed a potion to help them sleep.

Harry and Hermione both said no. Madam Pomfrey bid them both good night and returned to her office.

The two Gryffindors waited for a long couple of minutes until the door opened and closed of its own accord.

Tracy reappeared from under the cloak. "Sleeping like a baby. She should stay that way for about 8 hours which should give us enough time."

"If it takes that long then we are really going to be dead tomorrow." Harry commented. "So, what do we do now?"

Hermione pulled a hair tie from her trunk, wincing slightly as she stood up.

"Are you going to be okay?" Tracy asked.

Hermione nodded. "I'll just have to take it slow and leave the work to you lot. I don't want to miss out on this again."

"Oh, yes. You had been petrified hadn't you? I remember Malfoy being quite pleased about that."

Hermione rolled her eyes and held out a piece of lingerie to Harry. Put this on, you won't want to be running around the castle without it."

Harry glared at her as he grabbed the offending piece of fabric.

"You remember how to put it on?" Hermione asked as he disappeared into the bathroom.

"Yes mother." Harry grunted as he shut the door very firmly.

Hermione giggled a little. "I know it's a bit mean but it's just too hard to resist teasing him a little."

"How's he coping over all?" Tracy asked.

"He's doing okay. We've had a few embarrassing discussions about what it means to be a woman, but we had to have them, for his own sake! It was easier on us given how embarrassed he was."

"He is surprisingly strong. He's been through so much, even as he keeps going."

"Yes. I don't know how close to his limit he is though. This has got to be so hard on him. And it's only going to get harder." Hermione sighed.

"I know. He seems to be completely female, physically anyway! Emotionally I think it is too soon to tell."

"We will just have to be there for him when he encounters the next issue."

Tracy nodded.

Harry returned a few minutes later, muttering about idiotic women clothing.

"You got it on properly, not inside out or twisted at all?" Hermione questioned him.

"Do you want to inspect it personally?" Harry shot back.

"Another time maybe, if we are going in public, right now it's only your comfort that will suffer."

"If my comfort is going to suffer, then why am I wearing it?"

"Because your comfort will suffer more lugging those things around the school, running up and down stairs."

"Would it really be that bad?"

"I wouldn't do it and mine are a lot smaller than yours. You will probably find that much free weight waving around would throw your balance off. Now sit down here."

"Okay, I get the message." Harry sat on the next to Hermione.

Hermione turned Harry's head away from her and used her brush to pull his long hair back. She then started braiding it.

"Why are you doing that?" Harry asked.

"Just keeping it out of the way." You won't be used to the length yet to handle putting it into a pony tail like mine.

"Fine." Harry grumbled. He turned his attention to Tracy, ignoring Hermione.

"So, why did you join us? If you don't mind me asking bluntly."

Tracy smiled gently. "Because of Daphne. She took me under her wing back in first year. She provided me with a lot of protection from the other people in Slytherin. Because of that I can't just abandon her, not when I agree with what she is doing anyway."

"You agree with this? You didn't seem too yesterday?"

"I agree with what you are trying to achieve. I don't think that we should have to do it ourselves though. Daphne disagreed and with what we know about the first war I don't think the adult's will do better this time either. So, here we are."

"We are glad to have you. You don't have to fight if you don't want to. Having someone to put us back together will be very useful."

"Well, it will give me plenty of practice for when I start my apprenticeship at St Mungo's. You in particular."

"Glad to be of service." Harry grinned at her. "Have you finished yet, Hermione?"

"Nearly... There done." Hermione sat back to admire her handiwork.

"It looks good. Longer hair really suits you, Harry. Maybe you should keep growing it out. It's much neater this way." Tracy commented.

"Thanks." Harry said dryly.

"Harry was forced into it a little by Ginny and me. He needed it though. Professor McGonagall was kind enough to comply with Ginny's idea." Hermione added.

Tracy nodded. "How long before we head down?"

"A little bit yet." Harry replied.

They sat in a surprisingly companionable silence until it was time to leave.

!HPEaSE!

"It's time." Hermione's quiet voice broke the silence.

Harry nodded and the two Gryffindors picked up their things for the trip.

Harry passed the cloak to Hermione and activated the map to check it.

"Everyone is on the move. They look to have clear runs. The staff seems to be otherwise occupied. Lets go."

The three students had to practically wrap themselves around each other for the cloak to cover them properly. It made for slow progress but Hermione was not able to move quickly anyway and she had planned for it allowing them to arrive on time.

Having the forethought to silence their feet Harry, Hermione and Tracy joined the other girls in the second floor bathroom without them being aware of their presence.

Looking around they saw that only Ginny was missing, but the map showed that she was only seconds from arriving.

She slid quietly into the room and looked around. "So we are only waiting on Harry and Hermione. Actually, where's Tracy? Did she back out?"

"No, she's coming. She remembered something about Madam Pomfrey and ducked up to the Hospital wing before curfew. I expect she will be here soon with Harry and Hermione." Daphne replied.

Tracy grinned and with a couple of gestures, led the cloaked trio over behind Daphne.

"Why are we meeting here? How do we get to the Chamber of Secrets from here?" Hannah asked.

Ginny was about to answer when Harry's quiet hiss, too quiet to be heard by the girls but just loud enough, caused the sinks to start moving revealing the entrance. The girls startled but the sudden grinding noise jumped back. This put Daphne within arm's length of Tracy. Reaching out swiftly she poked her friend in the ribs.

Daphne shrieked and jumped forward, spinning around and pulling her wand and searching for her target.

Ginny started giggling. "Come on out you three."

The other girls looked at her in shock until the rustle of fabric pulled their attention to the three previously hidden students.

"Sorry about that, Daph." Tracy giggled. "I couldn't resist."

"Scared the life out of me you did." Daphne replied clutching her chest. "Is that an invisibility cloak? It's a lot better than the ones I've seen."

"Potter family heirloom." Harry said, leaning on his broom.

Hermione folded the cloak and cleared map away into her bag and looked at the hole in the floor.

"How did you and Ron get down last time?" She asked, nervously gazing into the black depths.

"Jumped."

"You jumped? Down there? Blind? You two can be so silly sometimes." Hermione scolded.

"Hey. We didn't just jump down blindly." Harry looked indignant. "We pushed Lockhart down first to make sure it was safe."

"Oh, that's okay then. Sorry."

"I can't imagine Salazar Slytherin jumping down a dark hole, there must be something we're missing?" Daphne commented as she made her own inspection.

"What is the password to open it?" Susan asked.

"Open, but it has to be said in Parseltongue." Harry replied.

"Okay," She said thinking, "try 'Stairs'."

A brief hiss later several of the stones lining the tunnel slid out creating a narrow spiral staircase.

"I'm impressed." Daphne said to Susan. "With you and Hannah freezing when Harry was attacked I had some doubt about your ability but how you handled searching Malfoy and the Professors afterwards and now this, you definitely have potential."

"Thank you." Susan replied dryly. "After you."

Daphne laughed and gave her a slight bow before lighting her wand and heading down the stairs.

"Hermione, can you stay close to Ginny? I'll go last and see if I can open and close this from the inside so we can keep this hidden."

Hermione nodded and led Ginny down the stairs.

Heading down the stairs, Harry paused to ensure he could close and reopen the entrance from this end. Satisfied that they were not trapped he followed after the girls.

Reaching the bottom he faced at several disgusted looks at the state of the tunnel.

"Sorry, but it's not my fault the house elves don't clean down here."

"A little warning would have been appreciated though." Hermione replied.

Leading the way, Harry carefully walked towards the entrance to the Chamber proper.

"Tread softly and don't bump anything. It's a little unstable down here." He pointed to the rock fall ahead to emphasise his point.

Some quick wand work had the rubble out of the way to allow Harry and the girls to pass.

It also revealed the shed skin.

"That is pretty big." Hannah commented. She waved her wand with some whispered spells and had the skin clear of debris, rolled up and floating along behind them.

Stopping at the snake engraved door, Harry turned to the girls.

"Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets." With a dramatic bow and a quiet hiss the snakes slid back and the door moved out of the way revealing the legendary Chamber.

Almost reverently Daphne stepped past Harry and into the Chamber, looking around briefly before her gaze locked onto the massive remains of the basilisk.

"Merlin!" Daphne was shocked speechless.

The other girls joined her in staring and the dead serpent. Only Hermione and Ginny was not totally stunned by the sight, the latter because she had already seen it briefly, even if she hadn't really looked at it, and because she was struggling with the emotions and memory's this place brought, the former because she was worried about the latter.

"You know. You said how big it was, and I believed you, but until you actually look at it, you just don't appreciate the size. The lot of us would be a single mouthful for that thing, let alone a single 12 year old." Susan almost whispered.

"How did you kill it?" Tracy was whispering as well.

"I used the sword of Godric Gryffindor." Harry replied, his voice sounding unnaturally loud in the unnaturally quite chamber.

Harry turned to look at Hermione and Ginny. "Are you two doing okay?"

Ginny took a deep breath and nodded. Hermione smiled at her two house mates, before straightening up.

"Alright ladies, we don't have all night."

That spurred the others into action. Hannah and Daphne pulled out several small boxes that were enlarged into trucks. Opening them they pulled out several items and books. Hannah flicked through one book and paused to read a page before casting several spells on the dead snake.

"Excellent. It all seems to be fine, everything should be harvestable. The basilisk is about 57 feet long weighs about 8 tons and seems like it died yesterday." Hannah smiled. "Harry I need you to read this. You are probably the only one of us capably of skinning the snake in one go. That will preserve the value of the hide."

Leaving Harry to read the indicated pages, which explained the spell to skin an animal in one move, Hannah inspected the basilisk carefully then nodded.

"Daphne, help me drain the blood. It will keep this from getting too messy and get it all in one go."

Daphne nodded and the two girls began transferring the blood of the giant reptile into several large vials.

When they had finished Daphne turned to Hannah. "You help Harry with the spell while I harvest the teeth and poison glands."

Hannah nodded. "When you're ready Harry."

"Nearly. Could you summon some rats so that I can practice a little first?"

"Okay, Harry." Summoning and stunning a couple of rats, she levitated them over in front of Harry.

"You're going to skin rats while they are still alive?" Hermione was shocked.

"You really want to argue with me over 'rats'?" Harry gave her an intent look.

"Yeah, okay. Good point. Go right ahead." Hermione replied.

"What did we miss?" Padma asked.

"The person who betrayed my parents, Peter Pettigrew, is a rat animagus." Harry replied as he focused on the book.

"Practicing on rats and similar pest creatures while they are alive is actually the best form of practice." Hannah added. "The living form adds the resistance which you experience when skinning larger animals. Theoretically, it is possible to use this spell on a living person but the energy requirements would make it impossible for most people. Harry might be able to pull it off though, if this he can do the basilisk in one go that is."

"That's a pretty gruesome thought" Ginny looked pale.

"It's better to know and be prepared." Daphne replied.

Rechecking the incantation and wand movement Harry turned to the rats.

"You probably won't want to watch this." Carefully waving is wand and clearly speaking the incantation the skin of the rat was separated from the body leaving a bloody mess. Repeating it with the other rat, Harry nodded and banished the remains.

He turned to Hannah and gestured for her to proceed.

She waved him over to the basilisk. "You need to focus the split along this line here where the belly scales meet the side scales. And don't forget to put everything you can into it. This is going to be really hard."

Harry nodded. Focusing hard on the snake as visualizing exactly what he wanted to happen he raised his wand and shouted the spell, pushing his magic into it as hard as possible. The result was both impressive and comical as the skin split exactly where Hannah had indicated and literally unwrapped from around the snake's body.

"Impressive, Harry. Disgusting but very impressive. Lets get to work Hannah, where do we start?" Daphne asked.

"At the top. The Gringotts goblins are partial to rare meats so they may be willing to buy the meat from us, which will probably double the value of the snake. I need you to collect the potion ingredients and internal organs as they become exposed."

"You didn't mention this earlier." Padma commented from where she was watching.

"The snake has been dead for 3 years, I didn't think it would be in this good a condition. It doesn't look like it has been touched at all."

"It wouldn't. Even in death, its presence drives others away." Luna commented absently. "You know, Sally really does have an over inflated ego, doesn't he?" She had moved past the basilisk's remains and was looking at the huge statue depicting Salazar Slytherin.

"Sally?" Tracy asked.

"Sally." Luna pointed at the statue.

Moving around the snake to join Luna Tracy, Susan and Padma stared up at the large stone statue.

"A bit ugly isn't he?" Padma said.

"I'm not quite so pleased about being a Slytherin now." Tracy added.

Susan looked over the statute and the damage that was visible. "Harry, how much of that damage was caused by your fight against the basilisk?"

The three Gryffindors joined them, Hermione still holding Ginny.

"All of it. There were a few near misses." Harry replied. "Actually here is the tooth I used to kill Riddle." He stooped and picked it up.

"Careful with that Potter, put it in here before you kill yourself or any of us." Daphne scolded. She held out a box for the tooth.

"Can I keep that one please?" Ginny asked quietly.

"Okay. I'll label this one for you. I'll give it back once all the poison has been removed and its safe."

"Make sure you keep most of the poison for our use only. It was very effective against the diary that Riddle used to possess Ginny; it may come in handy for other dark artifacts'." Harry said.

Daphne nodded.

"You know if I built a statue of myself I would make sure I looked damn good." Susan commented, turning back to the statue.

"For all I know, that is what he did. And that isn't the worst of his arrogance." Harry replied.

"It gets worse?"

Harry nodded and hissed in parseltongue. The girls jumped as the mouth opened revealing the tunnel the basilisk had emerged from 3 years earlier.

"Translation: 'Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four'."

"Okay, I'm getting resorted." Tracy said.

"Where does the tunnel lead?" Padma asked.

"Don't know. That's where the basilisk came from. I never had the time to explore beyond what I have already shown you and never came back." Harry replied.

"A little short sighted of you." Tracy criticized.

"I was only twelve at the time. I had just been attacked by a professor and our friend who's currently being taken apart there. I was a little distracted."

"It's good to know that the boy-who-lived is still human." Tracy grinned.

"Even if he's not a boy any more." Harry growled in annoyance.

"Don't worry about it too much. You will find a way back, and until you do you are still the sexy package you always were." Tracy replied.

"You think I'm sexy?" Harry was amazed.

"Yeah. And so do a lot of girls. I'm mean seeker on the Quidditch team, the Tri-Wizard Tournament, those incredible eyes of yours. I've heard girls talk about how they could stare into them all day," Tracy giggled, "and you're so modest about it all."

"Actually, most of that is cluelessness." Hermione interjected. "He is really modest but mostly he just doesn't get that girls' actually like him."

"If you lot are done discussing my many short comings..." Harry walked off, splashing through the shallow water to the mouth of the statue and looked inside.

He lit his wand and climbed in, disappearing from the girls view. The girls waited with baited breath until he reappeared a few minutes later.

"There is the basilisk's lair up there. There are quite a few shed skins up there too." Harry said. "I didn't see another way out though."

"If you levitate the skins down to the entrance here, I'll move them over to Hannah and Daphne." Susan instructed as she moved to join him at the entrance.

Harry nodded and disappeared up the tunnel. A minute later the skins were appearing at the tunnel entrance for Susan to shift.

"Susan, if you move them to the edge here we can fold and stack them." Padma called.

"Thanks." Susan quickly moved the skin to the floor, clear of the pool she was standing in.

Working together, Padma and Luna quickly folded the skins for packing.

"Sorry I'm not more help." Ginny said weekly from Hermione's arms.

"Don't worry about it. Riddle nearly sucked the life out of you. There are a lot of bad memories for you here. I think you are doing brilliantly." Hermione said gently, still hugging the younger girl.

"That's the last one, Susan." Harry called down the tunnel. "I'm going to look around a bit more."

"Okay. Call if you need any help." Susan called back.

Passing the skin to the two Ravenclaws, she splashed back to the edge of the pool and climbed out. "That took a bit of work. I'm going to sit for a bit." She collapsed to the ground.

She wasn't the only one suffering. Padma and Luna had to grit their teeth to finish the last skin. They soon joined Susan on the floor.

"How does Harry keep going?" Padma asked.

"He's that much more powerful than the rest of us." Hermione answered. "He just keeps on going while the rest of us collapse from exhaustion. He's like the energizer bunny for wizards." Hermione giggled.

The rest of the girls looked at her strangely. Hermione rolled her eye in frustration.

"Wizards. You need to open yourselves up to the muggle world a bit more." Hermione grumbled.

"That can be your job for the summer." Susan said.

Tracy reappeared. "Those tunnels don't go anywhere. They just loop back round."

"Not surprising really. It is suppose to be a hidden room. I did wonder where you vanished off to though." Susan had lifted her head right back to see Tracy behind her.

"How do you think Hannah and Daphne are doing?" Padma asked.

"They'll be fine." Tracy said. "The spells they're using are specifically designed and highly refined. They actually use surprising little energy. Daphne also has some impressive magic reserves. They'll take a break when they need too. Daphne has shown me those kits in the past, they have energy potions in them. How to do the job and look after yourself is one of the first things you learn about harvesting large animals."

"I wonder how they would match up against Harry's?" Padma wondered.

"Probably pretty well, better that most of the rest of us anyway. She can't put as much power into her spells as Harry can though, that's why she needed him to skin the basilisk."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Susan called.

"Best to leave it to us." Daphne replied absently.

"Actually, if they handle the flesh under our direction, we can handle the sensitive areas and we will be done quicker." Hannah said.

Daphne paused and wiped her brow. "You may be right." She sighed. "Let's take a break for a few minutes."

"Okay. I'll just get this out... done." Hannah bottled the organ she had just removed and joined her friends on the floor.

"How's it going?" Harry asked the two tired girls.

"Very well. There is just a lot to deal with." Daphne replied.

"What can I do to help?"

"If you summon that book... thank you," Hannah flipped through the book, "here this is it. It details how to carve the flesh up into one foot cubes. You have to make sure that you only carve up the flesh."

"Yes, Potter, only the flesh," Daphne interrupted, "I don't want you hitting any of the valuable organs or me." She glared at him, but there was little heat in it."

"So just start off with single chunks. When you get better you can do multiple chunks." Hannah finished.

"The others who want to help can wrap and pack them in a trunk." Daphne added.

Susan, Padma, Luna and Tracy all nodded.

"Just let us get our breath back." Susan added.

They sat in a companionable silence for a while.

"Has anyone looked around this place?" Daphne broke the silence suddenly.

"Yes." Tracy replied. "I looked around the tunnels, they don't go anywhere. We may need to research some high-level detection spells over the summer and search again next year to see if we missed anything."

"I checked the basilisk's nest behind the statue. I didn't find anything and nothing responded to some simple parseltongue words that I could come up with. Checking it again when we know more would be a good idea though. I wouldn't build a place like this just to put a basilisk in, I would do more." Harry barely glanced up from the book.

"I was thinking the same." Tracy said. "I'm best at healing but I don't mind researching this as well."

"Well let's get back to it, or it will be morning before we finish." Hannah dragged herself off the ground,

Harry nodded from the book. Stood, walked over to the corpse and pulled his wand. Shifting his focus from the book to the snake he carefully cast the spell, caving a single block of flesh into a cube. With a smile, and more confidence he cast the spell again, carving another block.

The other girls had organised an assembly line. Susan and Tracy pulled the carved flesh of the body and passed it to Luna or Padma who were near the trunk and other equipment needed. They wrapped the flesh and passed it to Hermione and Ginny, neither of whom was in a condition to use a wand, to be packed in to the truck.

Gaining confidence, Harry progressed from single blocks to two blocks then four, etc. Soon larger sections of the snake where cubed for packing, forcing the other girls to work faster to keep up.

Daphne and Hannah would get Harry to stop every now and then as something new became visible. They would carefully excise it, and then allow Harry to cube more.

They have to take another couple of breaks before they finished but they managed it. The last of the flesh was packed away into the massively expanded truck compartments. The hide cleaned, treated and folded away. Daphne has even convinced Harry to keep the skeleton as a memento, purely to show off to other families. A lesson in diplomacy and relating to pure-bloods, she called it. They respect impressive achievements, bragging about their ancestors' because they could have their own.

"It will build you credibility with the pure-blood community. And regardless of how you feel about them, you can't ignore them. They have too much power in the wizarding world." She finished.

"They other part is that it will be easier to convince them not to side with Voldemort, even if they don't join you." Hermione added. "It may not be a win for us but it is a definite loss for him."

Harry nodded. "I'll think about it. Now, Hannah, you mentioned that the goblins would like the meat. How would I go about it?"

"I don't know exactly. I just know that if one of their dragon's die the meat is shared out amongst the goblins as rewards." Hannah thought for a second." Just tell them that you have it for sale and answer their questions honestly. If they catch you in a lie, and they probably will from what I've heard, it will go badly."

Harry nodded. "Total honesty. I can do that. Does anyone want to check the external tunnels? Or should we just go to bed?"

Hermione checked her watch. "It's nearly four in the morning. I vote for bed."

"Seconded." Daphne yawned. "That was hard work."

"All in favour?" Susan grinned as the other girls responded affirmatively. "Motion carried but unanimous consent. Council adjourned."

Laughing the girls left the Chamber of Secrets and watched the door close on a room they had never expected to see.

It was close to four thirty before all the Harry and the girls finally got into their beds. They managed to avoid any problems, ensuring that their night's activities were undetected. It was still before four thirty when they all feel asleep. Enjoying their well deserved rest.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

If fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

It's great to see how many people have read my last chapter. That Stat's page in your profile is brilliant.

For all those who have reviewed, thanks. You've given me some wonderful feedback.

I don't want to give anything away too soon but some of you are on the right track. The pace won't pick up for a few chapters; I'm still working on a day by day basis. I have a few things I am working through but hopefully I will be able to pick the pace up in a while.

I am sort of writing this story without much of a plan so I still have to work out what is going to happen.

Don't worry. I have several chapters to be proofed so this story is not going to disappear. I am going to try to post a chapter a month.

And without any further adieu, here is the next chapter for your enjoyment.

**Chapter 4**

Harry and Hermione were woken far too soon. It might have been late morning but after their late night, mid afternoon would have been too early. Groaning and looking and looking at each other through their blurred vision in the bright morning light they began deciphering what had woken them. The not so dulcet tones of one Ronald Weasley.

"I'm fine I tell you. Why can't you just let me leave?"

"Mr Weasley, you may have been released from St Mungo's but you were released into my care. That means that you stay put until I say otherwise." Madam Pomfrey ordered.

Ron's voice descended into illegible grumbling.

"I guess Ron's back." Harry's voice was distorted from having just woken up.

"Yeah. Sounds like he's okay. I wonder what kept him." Hermione replied.

"We'll know soon enough." Harry yawned and stretched. He started to get out of bed, adjusting his shirt that had been gotten twisted in the night. "How do you manage with these things?"

"You get used to them, and mine aren't so big so I have fewer problems. Clothes aren't the best things too be sleeping in anyway."

Harry looked towards the other end of the hospital but his view was blocked by a screen. He shrugged and headed to the nearby bathroom door.

"Can you warn Ron about my changes, I'll be back in a minute."

Hermione nodded and got up as well. Neither had undressed when they got back and it showed. Attempting to straighten her clothing she walked a little stiffly around the screen to see her other best friend.

"Hey Ron, how are you doing?" She asked.

"Hi, Hermione. I'd be better if I could get out of here. How are you? I didn't think you would still be in here." He replied.

"I'm still on a potions regiment so Madam Pomfrey is keeping me close until the end of the year. What did the mind healer have to say?"

"That I was jealous, petty, suffered an inferiority complex, and would never accomplish anything because I was too lazy. And that took them about half an hour. They spent the rest of the time making sure those brains didn't implant any personalities in me. They didn't but they scrambled some of my older memories and left a few behind. They have sorted most of it out but I've been given some Occlumency exercises to keep working on to finish it off. Majorly boring stuff but I have to do it. I have a few checkups over the summer and I have to take it easy. How's Harry? I was hoping I would have seen him already."

"Umm. Harry has been in the Hospital wing since the morning after the Department of Mysteries. Malfoy attacked him after breakfast that next morning and forced a potion into him. He's okay but there have been a few side effects from it. One in particular is very noticeable and has proven to be very hard for him to adapt to. So Be Nice." Hermione ended glaring at the red-head.

"Okay, okay. I'll do my best." Ron grumped.

"Hey you two, bathrooms free if you want it Hermione. Good to have you back Ron." Harry joined his two friends.

"Thanks Harry." Hermione gave one last glare at Ron before heading to the bathroom.

Ron was just staring at Harry, mouth hanging open.

"Wake up Ron." Harry shoved his friends shoulder gently.

Ron shook himself. "What happened to you?" He stuttered.

"Side-effect of the potion Malfoy gave me. Dumbledore said that Snape is looking into it but doesn't expect there to be any news until about the same time as school starts for next year."

"Umm." Ron's eyes kept dropping then snapping back.

"Hermione and Ginny have been helpful, on the odd occasion that they aren't teasing me about it." Harry grumbled a little sitting on a bed next to Ron's and crossing his arms over his chest. "The whole situation has been really awkward, and you have no idea how uncomfortable I am taking a shower."

Ron blushed at that thought. "I'd have thought you'd have been having fun?"

"Yeah? Try it from this end."Harry replied tiredly.

"Ron, are you really okay?"

"Yeah. Occasional headaches but I'm sure you know how that is. I just need to take it easy this summer." Ron grinned suddenly. "I actually have a healer's permission to not do any homework this summer."

"Not that you do anyway." Harry shot back.

"Yeah, but now Mum and Hermione can't complain."

Hermione bounced back and sat next to Harry. "What can't I complain about?"

"Ron not doing any studying this summer. He has a healer saying he's not allowed to." Harry replied.

"Well then I guess he won't be joining us." Hermione said.

"Huh? What am I missing?" Ron looked rapidly between his two friends.

"I found out that I have to beat Voldemort and Hermione, Ginny and some other friends are going to help me. We have begun laying out some major study plans for the summer. There is a lot to learn and not much time to learn it in." Harry explained.

"Studying? You're going to spend the summer studying? What about Quidditch?" Ron looked flabbergasted.

"I'll play some Quidditch, maybe even learn how to swim, but I need to learn. I need to study harder than ever. I don't have a choice. Dumbledore may go on about waiting until I graduate but the sooner I start the more prepared I'll be. He is not going to wait until I'm ready." Harry finished quietly but the determination was easily visible.

"I hear you. When school starts next year you'll have to catch me up with the good stuff."

"Okay, Ron. You are going to have to work really hard though. We will be way ahead of you."

"How far are you planning on going?" Ron frowned.

"As far as possible. The longer I take the more people will suffer. Voldemort is out in the open now; he has no reason to hold back."

Ron looked worried. "How bad is this going to get?"

"I really dread to think." Harry's hand clenched, his knuckles whitening. "I am going to do everything in my power to minimise it though."

Hermione reached over to Harry and placed both of her hands on the one nearest to her, squeezing gently. "And I'm going to help, anyway I can. And so will Ginny and Luna and the others."

"Thanks." Harry smiled slightly at her.

"I'm here too y'know." Ron interrupted feeling a little left out. "I'm not backing out now. Who are the others?"

"Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott, Padma Patil, Daphne Greengrass, and Tracy Davis." Hermione replied.

"I remember Padma from the Yule ball and Susan, and Hannah from the DA. Who are Daphne and Tracy?" Ron queried.

"They're in our year." Hermione answered.

"Which house? Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw?"

"Slytherin."

"Are you crazy?" Ron exploded. "You're trusting those Death Eaters. They'll send you straight to you-know-who."

"No they won't." Harry said quietly but firmly. "They won't betray us. They can't. They swore an oath to me. And it was their choice to, I didn't even suggest it."

"But they're Slytherin's..." Ron's voice dropped to almost a whine.

"So?" Harry's quiet question shocked Ron.

"You-know who was a Slytherin, All Death Eater's were Slytherin's."

"Not all of them, there was at least one Gryffindor I know of. I suspect that all the other two houses have former member's they would rather forget. And none of that indicates that all Slytherin's are Death Eaters."

"Slytherin's are evil." Ron stated stubbornly.

"No, they are Ambitious. It just so happens that the ones that we are most familiar with, for unpleasant reasons, are also delusional. Ambitious just means that they want to be the best; they have a 'thirst to prove themselves'. There is nothing evil about that."

"I still don't know why you want to have anything to do with them?" Ron grumbled.

"They have a different point of view. One that I believe will help us. And we need all the help we can get."

"Don't expect me to have anything to do with them. When did you get so smart anyway?"

"I dunno. Ever since this happened I've been thinking quicker and easier. My head just feels so much better. Better than ever actually."

Ron was about to retort but was interrupted by Madam Pomfrey's return.

"Here are your potions, and breakfast will be here soon for you two sleepyheads." She said as she passed potions to Ron and Hermione.

"Good morning, Madam Pomfrey, and thank you." Hermione said politely, accepting her potions.

Ron just nodded as he downed the potion quickly; joining Hermione with nearly identical grimaces due to the taste.

Harry smiled. "It's so nice to be on the other end of this for a change."

Hermione thumped his shoulder, not too gently either.

"Ouch." Harry rubbed his shoulder as he frowned at Hermione. "Hitting a girl? What's next huh?"

"I'm a girl too so you can't pull that one on me."

"So when do we get out?" Ron asked Madam Pomfrey.

"I'll check you after lunch to make sure but you should be able to leave then. These two will not be leaving until tomorrow."

"We go home tomorrow."

"That is correct."

"That sucks for you two." Ron turned to his friends.

"I took a bit of damage from that curse. I'm going to be on potions for the next month." Hermione said by way of explanation.

Harry shrugged. "Where else could I sleep?"

"In the dorm like you normally do."

"Looking like this? What do you think McGonagall would have to say if you suggested that?"

"Nothing good. You're right. It's just weird without you there."

"Can't be that weird, I'm in here often enough."

Ron laughed. "You must have the record for amount of time spent in the Hospital wing."

"I did hope to leave my mark here. Hospital wing attendance and largest variety of rules broken, and without being punished for most of them." Harry grinned as the other two laughed.

The trio dissolved into their quiet chat through until after lunch.

!HPEaSE!

Ginny and Luna joined them after lunch. Lunch had been their first meal of the day given their lie in after the late night adventure in the bowls of the school. Both of them still had damp hair showing how recently they had awoken.

Ginny had pretty well bounced into the room. Having faced her demon's the night before she felt better than she had in years. She may not have scored a major victory but she had definitely gained ground. She knew it and it showed. She hadn't felt this good in years.

Luna floated in after her. She looked the same as always but she had been shocked last night. The basilisk was beyond anything she had expected. Ginny was one of her few friends, how close she had come to losing Ginny terrified her. Harry was the one who had saved Ginny. Harry had accepted her without question, regardless of how had portrayed herself. The DA was the most fun she had ever had and it was Harry who had attracted everyone, who had gotten everyone working together. Her respect for him had grown, taking on a basilisk that big at age twelve for someone he barely knew, and winning? Luna truly believed that Harry was the future of the wizarding world, and she wanted to help make it a good one.

Ginny sat down next to Harry, on the other side of him to Hermione, and looked over to the next bed at her brother. "Hello Ronny dear. Are you feeling well?"

"Sod off."

"You're feeling that good? I am very glad to hear it."

Harry and Hermione started laughing at the siblings antics.

"It's nice to see someone else getting teased for a change." Harry commented to Hermione.

"I've always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling." Hermione replied.

"Ron has a few; perhaps he is willing to lend you a few. You could have your choice of younger or older."

"You can have them all." Ron grumbled. "Especially this one here."

"Oh, please." Ginny gushed. "Hermione, big sis." She threw herself across Harry's lap to hug a giggling Hermione. "We can stay up late, and put on makeup, and play dress ups and, and." Ginny couldn't contain her giggles anymore.

"So, Hermione, what is it like having a little sister?" Harry asked, pushing Ginny off his lap.

"It's not bad. You should try it."

Ginny grinned up from the floor and hugged Hermione's legs. "Sorry. I'm taken by big sis here. You'll have to find someone else."

"Okay. Hey Luna, I've got a vacant little sister position I'm trying to fill. Are you interested?" Harry looked over at the Ravenclaw.

"Will you help me chase away the Nargles and hunt for a Snorkack?" She asked.

"Sure, no problem." Harry shrugged.

Luna jumped over Ginny and crashed into Harry flattening him onto the bed. "Yay. I have a big sister too."

"That is quiet enough racket from you lot. Miss Weasley, Miss Lovegood, I'm afraid I must ask you to leave. I'm sure that you have packing to so since you will be leaving tomorrow. Miss Granger, back to bed. You need to take it easy, so get some rest. Mr Potter, you should rest too, we don't know what other side effects may occur. Just because you are fine now doesn't mean you can just play around like nothing happened. Mr Weasley, you are free to leave now as well. I suggest you pack before the leaving feast tonight. Shoo." Madam Pomfrey scolded. She had been drawn from her office by the laughter.

"Will Harry and Hermione be able to join us at the leaving feast?" Ginny asked as she stood.

"We will see."

"I may not go anyway. I'm not sure I'm ready to face everyone just yet." Harry said.

"Okay." Ginny looked a little down. "Can I come and say goodnight afterwards?" Her question was mostly directed at Madam Pomfrey. Mostly, but not totally.

"If you behave." Madam Pomfrey replied.

"I will look forward to seeing you then. You can let me know what happened at the feast." Harry said to the younger red-head.

Ginny's face lit up. "See you later then Harry, big sis. Come on Ron." She grabbed her brother's arm and started dragged him out of bed.

"Bye big sister. Bye Hermione." Luna followed the Gryffindors.

"See you later." Harry and Hermione chorused.

Harry and Hermione returned to their beds in the now empty room.

"That was nice of you Harry. Luna could use some more family. I'm sure that her father loves her deeply but he seems more focused on finding his imaginary creatures." Hermione sighed. "I wonder how much of her obsession is her own from losing her mother and how much it is a way to connect with her father."

"I don't know. But she has friends now. And if she really wants to be my little sister then I'll let her. It could be fun."

"Would you be her big sister or big brother?" Hermione grinned. "I think she would prefer the former."

"Given my current condition she seems to be getting both. Actually, given that she's been a girl longer than me, I would be her big brother and she would be my big sister. "

Hermione laughed.

When she calmed down she asked, "How are you coping?"

"Are you going to ask me that every day?"

"Yep. At least until I know that you are okay with it. So no lying missy."

"It's still difficult. I'm still uncomfortable."

"It's to be expected. I'd actually be disappointed if you had adapted that much already. It would mean that you were a little more perverted that I would be comfortable with."

"Thanks." Harry replied dryly.

"You welcome." Hermione chirped. "It actually means that I am comfortable suggesting that you take the time to explore yourself properly the next time you shower."

"What are you suggesting? You are saying that I should, you know..." Harry looked shocked as her started turning red.

"You don't have to go that far, although it would give you a unique perspective on pleasuring women that any future partners you have would appreciate. What I'm saying is that you have to get comfortable with yourself. Some of the area's you would be avoiding at the moment that need extra attention paid to them when washing."

"I really don't want to have this conversation."

"We can put it off for a bit. But there is a lot you need to know or you could have a lot of problems. There is a lot that can go wrong with women's bodies, and you need to be aware of it. We don't know how long it will take to get you turned back."

Harry looked down, sadly. "Do you think that this will affect me in other ways?"

Hermione looked at Harry intently, trying to divine his actual question. "Do you mean 'Will I stop liking girls in that way'?"

Harry flushed but nodded.

Hermione smiled softly. "Would you prefer to look at my boobs or Ron's penis?" She asked suddenly.

"You." Harry responded quickly, then turned bright red and looked away.

"That was quick. You think I look good do you? You'd like to see me naked wouldn't you?"

Harry flushed even more; Hermione didn't even think it was possible. He turned further away and ducked his head.

Hermione's smile widened as she moved to sit next to Harry on his bed and hugged him from behind.

"Thank you. It's nice to know that you think I'm attractive. I don't mind being looked at when it's done respectfully. I don't like being leered at though."

'I'll remember that. Always stare at your bits respectfully."

"Prat." Hermione slapped his shoulder gently.

"Hermione," Harry asked after a quiet pause, "how am I going to go on if I can't get turned back?"

"We will work something out." She reassured him. "Being a woman will be a big adjustment for you but it is not as bad as you think. I've managed pretty well for the last 16 years. I think you will find that things won't change as much as you think. There are defiantly going to be some big changes in a few areas but the rest of it won't change."

"Really?"

"You'll see." Hermione gave him a soft smile.

"Thanks. And thanks for not teasing me, for a change."

"That's mostly just to keep your mind off it and your spirits up. And I've just thought up a really good one too." Hermione giggled.

"Oh go on. I wouldn't want you to explode due to repressed teasing."

"Why thank you sir. You are most kind."

"Just get on with it. I want some more sleep before dinner."

Hermione rose and returned to her bed. "It was just that even if you do still like girls, I'm sure that you can find a nice one who will accept you just as you are. Sleep well, Harry."

A growl was all she got in return.

!HPEaSE!

They woke up a little before dinner. Harry was ignoring Hermione for the last crack she had made but Hermione wasn't bothered. She was please she had managed to tease him so well. She could tell that he wasn't really angry at her and would get ever it soon. She was reading quietly, watching him out of the corner of her eye as he sat in though.

"Hermione?"

Hermione jumped at the sudden question. "Yes Harry?"

"Would a girl really still want to be with me? Even if I didn't get changed back?"

"Yes. I'm sure that if you meet someone that is really special, they will accept you. Breasts and all."

"Do you know anyone like that?"

"I don't know, sorry." Hermione looked down. She understood Harry's problem. Even if there was someone for him, he still had to find her. "I think that there are a few girls we know that could be very happy having a relationship with you and seeing how it goes. I just don't know how they will handle the whole female thing."

"Hey." She brightened suddenly. "Daphne seemed interested when we were talking before you woke up after Malfoy's attack. Actually, she mentioned that there might be a marriage contract between your two families."

"Great. Not only have I been turned into a girl and will probably never have a chance at a normal relationship but I may have to marry someone I only met for the first time the two days ago."

"She only thought it a possibility. That was after she was teasing Ginny about sharing you with her." Hermione blushed at the next memory.

Harry caught it. "That blush meant something. Come on, spill. It's your turn to be embarrassed."

"Okay, I'll take this hit. After Daphne suggested that she and Ginny share you, she offered the other position to me."

"Oh. Did you accept?"

"No. I can't say I wasn't tempted though."

"Tempted, Hermione?"

Hermione turned really red. "Did I say that out loud?" She covered her face with her hands.

"You find me attractive. That's really nice to know. I really appreciate it. I have never had a problem with being looked at respectfully but please don't stare, you know I get too much of that already."

"Okay. I deserved that."

"Do you really like me like that?" Harry asked gently, but very seriously.

Hermione looked at him and could see the honesty in his eyes and face. "Yeah. Ever since first year when you jumped on that troll to save me you have been really special to me. You are the best friend I ever had. I hoped that maybe we could become closer but it never seemed to happen." Hermione looked down.

"I know why, but you probably won't like it."

"You see me as a sister. I know."

"No actually."

Hermione looked up in surprise.

"The reason is how you treated me. Making sure I eat right, do my homework on time, going to bed early, scolding me when I'm naughty."

"You didn't like it did you. I was too pushy. I forced you away from me." She started tearing. "Five years on I still make the same mistakes don't I?"

"No Hermione. It wasn't a mistake and I do like you. It was just..." Harry took a deep breath. "You treated me how I hoped my mother would treat me." He finished quietly.

Hermione froze. "You mean that I lost my chance with you because you saw me as a mother figure? I think that may be worse."

"I'm sorry. I never had one and you seemed to fit."

"What about Mrs Weasley?"

"Apart from the fact I met you first, she's too over baring. Plus she already has so many kids. And I couldn't see her as the sort of person my mum would be after over a decade with my marauder dad. And she never really did the homework and stuff nag, not to me anyway."

"True, I'll give you that." Hermione thought for a second. "If I can find someone to replace me as your mother figure do you think we could give it a go?"

"Sure, why not. Do you want me in pants or are you going to find me a nice dress to wear on or first date?"

"I think we can find you something nice." Hermione finally had a smile on her face.

Hermione reached for the glass of water on her night stand and paused when she saw a letter addressed to her next to it. Opening and reading it she broke into a smile.

"Harry, my parents said you can stay at my place for the beginning of summer at least. They won't make a commitment of more than a few weeks but you have somewhere to stay until we work something out."

"Thanks Hermione. Do you think that they will mind going to Diagon Alley before going home?"

"I don't think so. I usually try to go there pretty early on anyway. They probably won't mind getting it out of the way sooner. Why?"

"I want to sell that basilisk meat to the goblins and sort out some wards for your house and the others as well. I might check on that marriage contract as well."

"Good idea. Want some company?"

"Please. Merlin knows I need your help most of the time."

"True. Very true."

They laughed.

"Why didn't you say you might want to try and be with me before?" Harry asked.

"I didn't think you would ever see me like that. And I don't know how I will handle a relationship with you if you can't be turned back."

Harry gasped. "You think I won't?"

"I honestly don't know. From what I heard about the attack something major happened. I don't know how it has affected you? I honestly want to believe that you will get to be turned back. I just don't know that I do." Hermione slumped again. '"I'm sorry, that's not want you want to hear."

"I want the truth. I know that something big happened. Some good and some bad. But I need you to be honest with me. Always, okay?"

"Okay Harry. I promise." Hermione looked straight at him, the honest of her pledge in her eyes.

"Thanks."

!HPEaSE!

Ginny and Luna were not the only visitors they had. Padma, Susan and Hannah had shown up on their way to dinner.

"Hello you two, how are you feeling?" Susan asked brightly.

"We're pretty good. Our sleep was interrupted by Ron's return to Hogwarts but we caught a nap after lunch." Hermione replied after she and Harry had shared a look.

"That's good. I got a reply back from my aunt. She wants to meet you as soon as possible and is willing to spend some time with you tomorrow afternoon if necessary. She isn't sure about letting you stay though but we could change that later."

"He is staying with me first off so that's fine." Hermione said.

"I was hoping to go to Gringotts as soon as we get off the train. She is welcome to meet us there." Harry added.

"Daphne caught up with me before we came. She and Tracy are fine. They won't be able to see you today because they have to keep up appearances with the other Slytherin's for the moment." Padma said. "They will meet us on the train for a few minutes and get our summer plans sorted. Daphne asked me to tell you that she enjoyed your first date and wonders when the Shrieking Shack appears on the itinerary."

"Probably not until we come back next year. If she is particularly eager we could take a trip on the first weekend back."

"That won't be a Hogsmeade weekend."

"That's part of the fun."

"I can see why you get in so much trouble." Padma shook her head.

"You don't know the half of it." Hermione interrupted.

"Oh goodie. Story time." Hannah bounced on her toes.

"Later. Maybe over the summer." Harry said.

"Oh, pooh." Hannah slumped.

Susan laughed at her friend.

"We need to get going to dinner. We will visit afterwards and let you know anything new."

"Ginny and Luna are going to visit after dinner as well." Hermione said.

"Sounds like a party." Susan replied.

The girls said their goodbyes and left.

!HPEaSE!

Harry and Hermione had enjoyed a quiet dinner together and were relaxing while they waited for their friends to visit. They were reading; Harry was enjoying the animagus book McGonagall had given him and had made good headway. He knew enough from his chats with Sirius that some of the animal senses would still be available in his human form and almost all animals had at least one sense that would surpass a human's. Sirius had said that his and James's duelling abilities had been enhanced by their animagus senses once learnt and correctly honed and applied. It was because of this he had moved the animagus transformation to one of the top items on his list of things to do.

This was how their friends found them, buried in their books. Ginny practically bounced over to Hermione and hugged her.

"Hello big sis. You are looking much better. When can you leave?"

Hermione returned the hug then swatted her. "I hope to get out of here tomorrow. I do hope I'll be ready." She rolled her eyes as she finished.

Luna laughed as she climbed into bed next to Harry and cuddled up.

"Big Sis?" Hannah asked. "And why is Luna in bed with Harry?"

"Joke from earlier today about Ginny having too many brothers and her wanting a sister instead." Hermione replied. "Harry offered to be Luna's older... sibling."

"Although that doesn't explain why Luna is in bed with me." Harry commented looking down at the younger girl.

Luna snuggled up a little more and looked up at him. "I wanted a bedtime story. Something about Crumple-Horned Snorkacks."

"Later. I need to hear about what happened at dinner."

"Not a lot. Dumbledore just let everyone know that you-know-who had been seen at the Ministry and had been confirmed as active. He said everyone needed to be extra careful over the summer."

"That it?" Harry was surprised. "No more advise than that? Like how to actually be careful. Really useful."

"He does seem to keep all the really important details to himself doesn't he?" Susan commented.

"Yeah, and doesn't hand any of them out until it's too late." Harry was nearly growling.

"Isn't that a little harsh?' Hannah asked.

"That's why I lost my godfather. If Dumbledore had told me that there was a prophesy and Voldemort could send false visions. I wouldn't have fallen for Voldemort's plan. I would have known that I couldn't trust anything; I would have tried harder at Occlumency. I may not have been fooled."

"You don't know that, Harry." Hermione tried to reassure him.

"No I don't, but I would have been more wary. Maybe I would have still fallen but I wouldn't have fallen so easily."

"We will never know unfortunately." Hermione saddened.

"Yeah. Let's not repeat this mistake okay? I don't want to lose anyone else."

"Agreed!" Hermione echoed vehemently.

The other girls added their agreement.

"Is there anything else?" Luna asked, looking between the other girls.

"Yes." Padma spoke up. "I talked to Daphne and she said she will hold you to the trip to the Shrieking Shack first weekend back."

"Anything else?" Luna was nearly bouncing now.

"Excited much?" Harry asked.

"Well, when all this is finished I get my story."

Everyone laughed at that.

"Okay, Luna. Give me a minute; I don't really know any bed time stories." Harry concentrated.

"Something with a Snorkack." Luna bounced next to Harry.

"Right. Umm... okay, here goes."

Harry took a deep breath. "Once upon a time there was a Crumpled Horned Snorkack called... Mary. Mary lived with her parents and older brother and sister in a nice house overlooking a vast forest. Mary liked taking walks in the forest and one day took a much longer walk than normal. She came across a cave that had a nice wooden door and a window covering the opening. She knocked on the door, curious to see who lived there."

"Who lived there?" Luna asked.

"If you are patient I will tell you."

Harry looked around and saw that all the girls had settled in to listen with Hermione particularly intent. Harry knew her well enough to know she was trying to place what the story he use using was.

"No one answered when she knocked so she tried the door and found that it opened easily and quietly. Peeking in she saw a nice room that that had been well lived in. She was going to go when her nose picked up a delicious smell. She had been walking for quite a long time and the smell made her aware she was very hungry. Not seeing anyone around she decided to investigate the smell and at the far end of the room she found a kitchen with a table. On the table were 3 bowls of porridge. Mary was a young Snorkack and while she knew better that to help herself to other peoples' food she was hungry and fell victim to temptation. She tasted the biggest bowl and found it was too hot. The smallest bowl was cold but the middle bowl was just the right temperature and one taste became two, then four, then before she knew it she had finished the bowl. Now she was tired and wanted to rest. Seeing a couple of doors decided to check them out. Behind the first door was a large double bed. Sitting on it she found it uncomfortable. Trying the other door she found a smaller room with a small bed. This bed was much more comfortable and soon she fell asleep."

Harry paused to take a drink of water.

"Now the occupants' of the house Mary had found were three bears who had taken a walk while their porridge cooled. They returned and found the front door open. Looking around they found that someone had been eating their food. The mother bear was very upset to realise that her breakfast had been eaten completely. They continued their search and the mother and father bear found that their bed had been disturbed. The baby bear ran in shouting. Mamma, Papa, there is someone sleeping in my bed. Running into the baby bears room they found Mary snuggled in amongst the sheets. Waking her they were very angry at her for intruding in their home, eating their food and sleeping in their beds. Mary was in tears trying to apologise. She had never meant to intrude as she had but her longer than usual walk had caught up with her. She how upset she was made the bears back off. They could see that Mary was very sorry and was a well behaved Snorkack. Accepting her apology and giving her a tissue to wipe away her tears they pointed her back to her home and sent her on her way. When Mary got home her mother grab her in a hug saying how worried she was about how long she had been gone. Mary found herself washed, given a glass of warm milk and bundled into bed where she snuggled amongst her warm sheets and went to sleep dreaming warm and happy dreams. Which is where you should be now."

While Luna hugged Harry, the other girls gave a round of applause for the story.

"Okay sis. Good night and thank you for the story." With one final hug Luna got up and skipped out of the room.

"That is not a bad idea actually." Hannah said. "I'm still tired form last night and I have a bit of packing I want to do tonight. Good night all, and thank you for the story Harry. I'm sure I will have warm and happy dreams too."

Susan and Padma said good night as well and left with Hannah.

"That was surprisingly good for having been made up on the spot." Ginny commented.

"An interesting variation on Goldilocks and the three Bears. A favourite of yours perhaps?" Hermione added. "I noticed a few changes, including the double bed for the parents, not for the younger children I think."

"It's one of the stories I learn to read with at primary school. And I never got the separate beds bit, my Aunt and Uncle were Dudley's parents and they shared a bed. They prided themselves on being 'normal' so the bear's not sharing just struck me as odd. Although the thought of them in bed together is nauseating. But not as much as the thought of them conceiving Dudley."

A chorus of Ewww's followed that statement.

"Although, come to think of it, they do treat Dudley as if he was the second coming of Christ, perhaps we could make a case for Immaculate Conception?"

That got the two girls laughing.

"Anyway, that just one of the few good memories I have." Harry went quiet.

"Well that was really sweet. Harry giving Luna a bed time story. Can I have one too? I wish I had a camera. We had better not let this get out or all the other kids here will want one too." Ginny was teasing Harry.

"Sod off, Ginny." Harry was suddenly angry.

"Hey, I was just teasing. You don't have to get like that."

"I suppose your parents gave you lots of bed time stories." Harry was nearly sneering at her.

"Yeah. What's your problem Harry." Ginny was getting angry now.

"How many stories do you think I got in my cupboard?"

Ginny froze and went completely white, eyes tearing.

"I never got any. Not one. I didn't even get a hug if I had a nightmare."

Hermione eyes were tearing as well as she exchanged a glance with Ginny. By unspoken agreement they moved to join Harry. Ginny practically ran around the bed and dove in to bury Harry in a hug whispering apologies in his ear. Hermione joined from the other side seconds later.

"Talk to us Harry. Help us understand." Hermione tried to encourage him to unload the tragic childhood that had been inflicted on him.

"They never hugged me. The only time they even touched me was to smack me or yank me around, throw me into my cupboard." Harry's tears were spilling down his cheeks. "I didn't know my name until I went to school. They told me as they pushed me out the door. Before they just called me 'boy' or 'freak'. I liked school at first. The teachers were nice and encouraging and I worked really hard until the first lot of grades went home. I was punished for doing better than Dudley. For showing him up. So I stopped trying. And the teachers decided that I was one of the kids who just slacked around and stopped trying to help.

"Dudley got really bad scores. It was hard to do worse. Sometimes he would deliberately to exceptionally bad to get me in trouble. Getting me in trouble was his second favourite hobby and he did it a lot. His favourite was beating me up himself, Harry Hunting he called it. He chased all the other kids away from me and beat up any who tried to be my friend. I tried to hide from him and his friends every break at school. I managed to hide in the library for a bit and read all that I could, until one of the librarians mentioned what an avid reader I was to my Aunt and Uncle. I was punished again for that and told to stay away from there. Another hiding place lost."

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other through their tears and Harry finally spilled everything he had been holding back for so many years. When he finally finished he was exhausted. Getting him to drink some water and wiping away his tears, the two Gryffindor girls managed to get Harry settled for the night.

They looked at each other helplessly, at a loss for words, as they gently stroked Harry's hair and shoulder until Madam Pomfrey chased them back to their beds.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

If fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it's great to get such good feedback and even some good ideas.

Here's the next chapter for everyone's enjoyment.

**Chapter 5**

Harry woke the next morning to Hermione's insistent voice telling him to get up.

"Come on Harry. You have to wake up. Breakfast is here and you still need to shower before we can go."

"Alright, alright." Harry groaned.

He stretched and got up. Stumbling to the bathroom to relieve himself before eating.

"The only good thing I've found so far is that I don't have to worry about trying to balance in the morning." He commented as he came back looking a little more awake.

Hermione chuckled around a mouthful of toast as he sat next to her.

Breakfast was finished in short order and Harry went back to the bathroom to shower and dress while Hermione got the few things they had out together and packed them.

"Do you think we will see any of the others before we leave?" Harry asked as he came out of the bathroom.

"Not until it's nearly time to leave I would think. They will be more focused on packing. It really depends on how organised they are and what else they have planned." Hermione replied looking up.

"Harry!" She scolded. "Your hair is a mess and you didn't put a bra on either did you?"

"I don't know what to do with my hair and the last time I wore a bra it ended up really hurting."

"You probably had it on wrong."

"Well I don't really know what the right way is yet."

"Oh fine then."

Harry had though she had given up until she opened up his truck and dug out one of the bra's she had given him.

"Come on. Let's get this over with." She grabbed his arm and dragged him back into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

"Take your top off, I show how to do it properly."

Harry gaped but her stern expression and knew that there would be no getting out of this.

"Err, Hermione. Are you sure about this? You did tell me yesterday that you wanted to date me. How do I know that this isn't just an attempt to ogle my bits?"

"Now mister."

"If you get to see my boobs, can I see yours?" Harry knew he was tempting fate and probably death with that last comment but he couldn't resist. He was already untucking his top anyway.

Hermione waited until his face was covered by his t-shirt before answering. "Maybe. We will see how the summer goes."

Harry immediately tried to get his face clear of the t-shirt to look at Hermione but she had timed it too well and he got himself tangled in the fabric. He needed her help to get himself free.

"Are you serious? I though you would hex me for asking that, not make an offer." Harry had forgotten he was standing in front of her topless.

"I am interested in dating you. If it goes well you would probably get to see them at some point. Although I have to say that mine would be a disappointment next to yours."

Harry grabbed his top from Hermione and covered himself. "How do you mean. I think yours would be nice."

"Nice compared to perfection. If they were a size or two smaller then they would be exactly what I would want. Hell, I would accept the size if that was the only way to get them looking like that." Hermione looked a little sad.

"I didn't realise you felt that way about yourself. You never seemed to care about how you looked."

"Arms forward." She commanded as she held out the bra. Putting it on him and adjusting it she replied, "I do want to be noticed more for my mind than my looks but I am still a girl. I like looking good." She finished adjusting the straps and turned him to face the mirror.

"How does that feel?" She asked as she looked over her handiwork.

"Good actually. Much better than when I last wore one."

"I'll show you a trick for if you can't fasten it behind your back when we get home."

"You just want to see my breasts again don't you?"

"Yeah, they're really nice to look at. They will look even better once we go shopping at get you into some decent clothes."

"Great. Umm. How much do you know about clothes?"

"Oh gee thanks. Just because wizarding fashion is so conservative that I would be considered a whore for how I like to dress."

"Really?"

"You have never seen how I dress at home have you? At Hogwarts and at the Burrow I dress more conservatively because its school or because of Mrs Weasley. I actually dress a lot more 'casual' at home than I used to. Probably overcompensating for my time at school."

"I can't wait to see that."

"Get dressed. You will see it sooner that way." She threw his t-shirt at him and headed for the door.

Pulling it on he joined her and they left the room as he tucked himself in.

"What were you two up too in there?" A prim voice greeted them as they left together.

Harry and Hermione froze until they realised it was just Ginny, ginning away as she sat on Harry's bed waiting for them.

"Did you have to scare us like that?" Harry asked.

"Yes." She replied simply. "What were you two doing in there together? And why did Harry need to tuck himself in afterwards?"

"He needed help putting a bra on." Hermione answered. "The last time he must have had it all twisted. So I had to help him."

"Okay. No salacious details to tease out of you then. Pity." Ginny giggled.

"Ginny." Hermione glared at her younger friend.

"Are you all packed and ready to go?" Harry asked.

"Yes. My trunk has already been picked up for the train so I came here. I figured you might want the extra support for when you make your debut."

"Thanks. How long till we have to go?"

"The earliest is half an hour yet." Hermione replied.

"Do you think I could sneak down under my invisibility cloak?"

"Not a bad idea. But you are going to be seen at some point. You might as well get it over with. You can't spend the entire train trip under your cloak."

"Yes I can."

"No you can't. I want to talk with you and I refuse to spend the entire trip talking to an empty space." Hermione stated firmly.

"The order has been given and we must obey." Stated Ginny solemnly, hiding her amusement.

"I guess we must." Harry slumped. "Do you think we could leave early, sneak down and catch the first carriage to the train while there are fewer people around?"

"Okay, that I'll allow. We just need to let Madam Pomfrey know."

"Do we have to?"

"Yes. She can let anyone who comes looking for us that we have left for the train already."

"Sort of defeats the purpose of sneaking out."

"Probably because we are not sneaking out."

"That explains why it feels so weird."

Ginny laughed at the two of them. "I'll go get Madam Pomfrey so you two can leave. Feel free to try and sneak out now while I'm gone."

When Ginny returned with Madam Pomfrey she found Harry and Hermione sitting very close together on Harry's bed. The reason they were so close was that Hermione was holding Harry's arm very tightly, preventing him from getting up.

"You actually stopped him from trying to leave?" Ginny laughed.

"No, but he felt better staying under confinement then of his own free will." Hermione replied as she let go.

After a quick check up, they were released, Hermione with a case of potion vials to finish her healing, and heading down to the entrance hall.

When they arrived they were met by Tracy and Daphne who gave them discreet nods while everyone else stared at Harry's new appearance.

The two Slytherins kept their distance until the first carriage arrived where they carefully slid into line behind the Gryffindors, got into the carriage with them and closed the door behind them.

"You okay Harry?" Daphne asked as the carriage got underway.

"Yeah. I'm used to being stared at one way or another." Harry shook himself.

"You handled it very well."

"Thanks. You two sleep okay?"

"We are better than we were yesterday. Rendering that snake took a lot of work." Daphne paused. "Just so you know my father is probably going to bill you for the work."

"Tell him to send it to me, we can work something out. But I will expect a discount on account of assisting in the process and if I pay in full I expect everything back."

"I will let him know."

"We probably won't be able to visit you on the train so we need to discuss things with you now." Tracy turned the discussion to business. "If you are connected to the floo network we can visit without anyone the wiser as long as we stay away from wizarding areas."

"I am going to visit Gringotts either today or tomorrow to get them to ward Hermione's home. I will see if we can get a floo connection at the same time. Depending on how much money I have and how much I get selling the basilisk meat to the goblins, you may get a visit from them to upgrade your wards."

"Thank you Harry." Tracy looked relieved.

"I'll let my father know." Daphne said. "I may have to reveal a few things to him but I will keep as much in confidence as possible."

Harry nodded. "I'll trust your judgement."

He reached over and opened the window and his owl swooped in surprising the other girls.

"Hello Hedwig. How are you?"

The white owl hooted back happily and looked Harry over before hooting a question.

"Yes, I got turned into a girl. I'll be living at Hermione's place for the time being so you can catch up with me there."

Hedwig hooted again.

"Yes, it's going to be much better than at the Dursley's. These are Tracy Davis and Daphne Greengrass. I may need to send letters to them this summer."

The two Slytherin girls found themselves under the owl's piercing gaze briefly before she hooted at them.

"Yes they are nice aren't they? We will probably see a lot of them this summer."

Harry stroked them owl for a bit then moved her over to the window.

"See you at Hermione's. I'll be going to Diagon Alley after we get to London but we shouldn't be too late."

With a final hoot Hedwig flitted out the window, pointed herself south and began her journey.

The two Slytherin's stared at Harry in dumbfounded silence.

"What?" He asked them.

"I have never seen anyone communicate with an owl the way you just did." Daphne said. "I think you are well on your way to having a bonded familiar decades before anyone else."

"Too much time at my Aunt and Uncle's place with no one to talk to. Hedwig suffers as much there as I do so we spend a lot of time looking after each other."

"An owl looks after you?" Tracy asked.

"She show concern and even shares her food with me, although dead mice are not particularly to my taste."

"You are the most fascinating wizard Harry." Daphne smiled at him. "I look forward to really getting to know you this summer."

"You too, Daphne. And you Tracy." He replied.

"We are nearly at the station, any last words?" Daphne asked.

"I don't think so. When Hermione's place is secured I'll sent Hedwig out with a letter letting you know. Hopefully you can expect her in the next couple of days with an update."

"Good. We can plan for our shopping trip this weekend. I will also look through my family's library for anything useful. I may not be able to bring the books but I will take notes to bring instead."

"I look forward to what you find."

"Definitely." Hermione added.

"Your welcome, Miss Bookworm." Daphne laughed.

"I'm not that bad am I?"

"No your not. You are much worse Hermione. Much, much worse." Harry answered.

Hermione huffed at him while the others laughed.

"Prove it. Give me one occasion where I was 'that' bad."

"First year. 'Killed or worse, expelled'. Just after we met Fluffy." Harry answered promptly.

Hermione huffed again.

"Why would 'Fluffy' be life threatening." Tracy asked.

"Fluffy was one of Hagrid's pets." Harry answered. "He was a giant three-headed dog."

"Saying he was one of Hagrid's pets was answer enough." Tracy shuddered.

"We're here. I look forward to your owl." Daphne said. "And I promise to do my best to keep my mother out of our shopping trip this weekend."

"Please, the woman is a touch obsessive when it comes to shopping." Tracy groaned.

"Even if it involves going to the muggle world?" Hermione asked.

"It would probably be her first muggle experience and no, it wouldn't stop her from coming shopping." Daphne replied, then sighed. "She may show up anyway. I think she can smell them."

She leaned over and gave Harry a firm hug. "Keep safe and I will see you this weekend, if not sooner. Bye Harry, I will look forward to our date at the Shrieking Shack. Bye Hermione, Ginny."

Tracy followed Daphne out of the carriage, also giving Harry a brief hug as she said goodbye.

The three Gryffindors gave them a minute before following.

"That was a fun trip." Ginny commented as they walked to the train. "I would never have guessed that they would be so much fun. This summer is going to be exciting isn't it?"

"I think so too." Hermione replied.

"I am a little curious about how we are all going to get along."

"How do you mean, Harry?"

"Me and eight girls, some of whom have such strong personalities. I hope there aren't too many clashes."

"I see what you mean." Hermione paused in thought. "I think we will all just have to listen calmly to each other."

"I agree. We are all working towards the same goal. The correct course of action in one instance may require everyone's input."

"Yes, alright. I need to listen more. I get the message." Hermione gave Harry a gentle swat on the arm.

"Did I say that?"

"You didn't need too."

They all sat in a compartment and waited for the others.

"I hope Ron doesn't waste too much time looking for us." Ginny thought out loud.

"Was he even awake when you left the Gryffindor?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. I made sure of that." She giggled.

"What did you do?" Harry looked intrigued.

"I just cursed him out of bed. Left him struggling in a pile of blankets, shouting obscenities at me as I walked out."

"Funny. Cruel but funny." Harry laughed.

"I hope he makes the train without us to help him." Hermione added through her giggles.

The three Gryffindors chatted on while they waited for their friends to arrive. Luna was the next to show up then Neville, telling them how crazy Ron was acting trying to pack in time. Susan and Hannah came and sat with them next. Padma stopped by and said she would join them a little later on to talk before disappearing off again. Ron didn't show until the train was about to leave.

"This is where you guys are? I been looking everywhere for you." He puffed.

"Glad you could finally make it." Harry commented.

"You look a mess, Ronald." Hermione scolded.

And he did. Untucked, half-hearted wash and a tie that could not have been more badly tied.

"Sorry but I was in a bit of a hurry to finish packing."

"Perhaps if you started more than 15 minutes before leaving you would have more time to make yourself presentable."

"Enough you two." Harry interrupted. "You two argue enough without adding today to the list. Hermione, back off, you know how Ron is. And Ron, please tuck yourself in at least, we have visitors."

Ron blinked. He suddenly noticed that Susan and Hannah were there, grinning at the situation. He ducked out into the corridor and sorted himself out before coming back in and squeezing in next to Neville at the near end of the seat just as the train whistled and began to move.

It was a little tight with eight but none of them were large. Luna and Ginny were particularly petite.

Ginny was very happy with the seating arrangement, crammed in next to Harry with Susan and Hannah on her other side.

"When do we discuss the plans for the summer?" Susan asked.

"When Padma gets back." Harry replied.

"What about Daphne and Tracy?"

"We talked to them on the way down. They managed to sneak into a carriage with us so we talked about what we needed too then."

"Good. The whole house may not be you-know-who supporters but there are more in that house than any other. They don't need more problems."

"I wouldn't trust any of them regardless." Ron interrupted.

"Enough Ron." Harry said. "We know Voldemort has supporters in every house. You knew that Gryffindor isn't perfect after third year."

"Still better than Slytherin." Ron replied stubbornly.

"I should hex you for that." Hannah glared at him.

"Why?" Ron glared back.

"My father was in Slytherin. My mother was a Ravenclaw, just so that you know." Hannah pulled her wand and pointed it at him. "And if you make any comments about him being evil I 'will' hex you."

"How did you end you in Hufflepuff?" Harry asked, trying to defuse the situation.

"You just have to look at what each house looks for. Slytherin is for the cunning and ambitious. My father was planning to be the best potion ingredient supplier from a very young age. My mother loves learning, hence Ravenclaw. And I believe in friendship and family above all else making me a Hufflepuff."

"The Sorting Hat sorts you by your strongest attribute. It doesn't mean that that is your only attribute." Susan added.

"Except in limited cases." Harry commented.

"How do you mean?" Susan asked.

"Do you really think that Malfoy has any attributes even closely related to any other house?"

The girls laughed.

"I can see I'm not wanted." Ron huffed and walked out.

"Ron?" Harry called.

There was no response.

"I know he's your friend, or brother," Susan nodded at Ginny, "but he is a lot more like Malfoy than he realises. He's only a Gryffindor by default isn't he?"

Harry and Hermione exchanged a long glance.

"Yes." Hermione answered.

"He's a good friend and good to have at your back." Harry tried to defend his friend.

"When his head isn't jammed up his arse." Ginny added.

"He will be better once he breaks past the stereotypes he lives by and grows up a bit." Hermione finished.

Everyone looked at her.

"Okay. Grows up a lot."

"Much better." Ginny chuckled.

They chatted on for a while until the door slid open and Padma squeezed into the empty seat, closing the door behind her.

"I have five minutes, or do we have to wait for Daphne and Tracy?" She stated.

"We talked to them on the way down to the station. They didn't think they could get away for a full meeting." Harry answered.

"Okay. What's the plan?"

"Should I leave?" Neville asked.

"You don't have too, just don't tell anyone anything. Especially Dumbledore." Harry replied.

"Umm. I don't have a problem keeping this too myself, but I don't think I could stand up to Professor Dumbledore. I'll wait outside."

"Okay Neville. See you soon. And thank you." Luna patted his arm.

"What for?"

"For being honest."

Neville smiled at the younger blond girl and left, closing the door behind him.

"Okay, first thing I'm going to do, hopefully this afternoon, is go to Gringotts and sell the basilisk meat. I will find out more about my finances. Based on that I will hopefully be able to get Gringotts to fully ward Hermione's house, where I will be staying, and all of yours as well if I can. I will be in touch regarding our shopping trip this weekend."

"I will keep that quiet otherwise you can expect my sister and Lavender to join, with or without an invitation." Padma interrupted.

Harry grinned at her and continued. "I appreciate that. Daphne has the same issue with her mother. I want all of you to do some hunting in your family libraries for anything that may be of use. If you can't bring the book then notes will be sufficient. We can start compiling a study plan for the rest of the summer based on our individual requirements."

"Sure you don't want us to copy our entire family libraries?" Susan asked facetiously.

"If you don't mind, that would be wonderful." Harry said graciously.

"That's a pretty simple plan, but that's about all we can expect at this early a stage." Padma said between giggles. "I can't wait to see Parvati's expression when I come back with new clothes. She will be so jealous."

"You do have the trunk containing the meat don't you?" Hannah asked. "It might be a little hard to sell it if you don't have it."

"I've got it. And the skeleton as well." Harry paused. "Do you really think putting the skeleton on display is a good idea?"

"Yes. Like or not you are going to have to deal with some old families. They will need to be impressed to take you seriously. Having a conversation with a 60' basilisk skeleton behind you will do just that." Susan replied.

"I let you know when the basilisk parts are ready. There will be a cost, I don't know how much yet." Hannah said.

"Let me know when you do. We will work something out. I will have to do the same with the Greengrass's as well." Harry looked around. "Is there any more business?"

"Do you think an article in the Quibbler about Voldemort's origins would be helpful?" Luna piped up.

"Yes, brilliant. Many pure-bloods will not support him if they think it may be possible that he is a half-blood." Susan gushed.

"Okay, start working on it. Please do not print it until you and your father are fully protected. Voldemort will retaliate and I don't want you hurt." Harry finished firmly.

"I'll bring a draft copy of the article with me this weekend. It will make a nice change from Nargle migration patterns." Luna said happily.

"If that's all, I need to get back." Padma stood. "I'll see you all this weekend."

She left and Neville returned retaking his seat next to Luna.

"Did everything go okay?" He asked.

"Yes, thank you." Harry replied. "And just to let you know, you may get a visit from Gringotts to have you home's wards upgraded. If I manage to swing it that is."

"You don't have to, Harry."

"Yes, I do." Harry stared Neville down. "Don't argue with me over this. Please. I don't want to lose any more friends."

Neville nodded. "Okay. I understand. I'll handle my Grandmother."

"Thank you, Neville." Harry's sincerity was obvious to everyone.

The conversation turned to more mundane matters.

!HPEaSE!

Ginny finally had enough. She had wanted to talk to Hermione since she got to the hospital wing.

"Excuse me; I just need to go freshen up. Hermione?" She look she gave Hermione was nothing less than a direct order.

Making their way out of the compartment, Ginny grabbed Hermione's arm and dragged her to the nearest bathroom.

After a quick check to ensure it was empty, Ginny cast a locking and privacy charm to ensure that they wouldn't be disturbed.

"Okay, what were you two really doing in that bathroom?"

"You've been holding that in a long time."

"Yeah. Now start talking before I start hexing."

"I was just helping him put on a bra. He must have really stuffed it up when we went to the Chamber of Secrets. He still had red marks from where it must have been twisted around."

"Ouch." Ginny winced. "So, you must have gotten a pretty good look then? Spill."

"Ginny! I can believe you. Do you really think I would stare at another girl's body?"

"Another girl? No. Harry? Yes. I know how you feel about him."

Hermione gaped. "How?"

"You push him as much as Ron but you never really get as angry. You may be sad when Ron isn't around but you're miserable without Harry. You show how you feel in the little details. It's easy to see if you look, and I've been watching Harry for years. Now talk."

"Okay. They are incredible. I wish mine looked half as good. I would prefer a couple of sizes smaller for myself but everything else, perfect. Hell, I would accept the size just to get the look." Hermione sighed. "They made me feel inadequate. How did he manage to get breasts that good?"

"I wish I knew. Are you still going to try and get him to notice you?"

"You wouldn't mind?"

"After what he told us last night? I want him to have all the happiness in the world; I would prefer it to be with me but... I just want him to be happy."

"Me too. Unfortunately, that is not likely to happen until you-know-who is gone."

"So we help make it happen quick. And make him as happy as possible in the process."

"Teach him how to love and be loved." Hermione looked at Ginny. "I don't think I could do that alone."

"After how hard it was for the both of us to calm him last night? It's not a one person job. Together?"

"Together!" The two girls shook.

"Hermione? Do you know why nothing ever happened between you two?" Ginny asked after a pause.

Hermione blushed.

"You do know. Spill. Please. I won't tell anyone."

"Okay. It's embarrassing though."

"Ah. Big sister huh?"

"No. That would have been okay."

"Oh? What? Why did he not want you?"

"He does want me but not as a sister or girlfriend." Hermione paused and took a deep breath. "He saw me as a mother figure."

Ginny's jaw dropped, and then started coughing to cover up her laughter.

"Oh, Merlin. That's, that's just, that's just..." Ginny dissolved into a puddle of laughter on the floor.

"Yeah, laugh it up."

"Oh. That is just too funny. Awful for you but funny." She said when she could finally talk again.

"Yes, well we talked about it and sort agreed to try dating if we could find someone else for him to see as a mother figure instead."

Ginny froze and stared at Hermione.

"Are you serious?" Ginny was nearly speechless.

"Yes." Hermione replied simply.

"I've missed out haven't I?"

"Not yet."

"Really? I really stuffed up with Harry. I would love a chance to make it right."

"Like we agreed. Neither of us could help him alone. I will need your help this summer. If we can convince my parents to get a floo connection, then you could come over every day."

"I would like that. I started enjoying the breaks more when you started coming over. Too much testosterone otherwise."

"Can I ask you something personal?" Hermione asked.

"Sure."

"You told me that you had given up of Harry and you started dating others. What changed?"

"It's a bit of a story. I grew up of stories of the-boy-who-lived. I would fantasise about him rescuing me from some monster and we would live happily ever after.

"Then I met him. The first time was the year before I started Hogwarts. This strange boy asked for help getting on to the platform. I had no idea who he was but he was nice and polite so I wished him luck. Then I find out who he was. I wanted to go and meet him properly, like he would realise that I'm his one and only right there and then." Ginny scoffed at herself.

"The next time I see him he's sitting at the kitchen table with Ron and the twins. I squeal and run. Good impression right there huh? I can't bring myself to get near him. Then Tom's diary and you know how that turned out. I see him during the year and he is polite to me but, there's no connection. I get disappointed and succumb to even more. Then he rescues me from Tom and the basilisk. I wake up and see him kneel next to me holding his arm. He looks awful and he is telling me that Ron is outside and to go find him. To go and not look back." Ginny's eye filled with tears.

"He KNEW he was dying. He didn't want me to watch. In none of my fantasies did the hero come close to dying, but here he was, the life ebbing out of him right before my eyes. And it was all my fault. He would have died if wasn't for Fawkes."

"It wasn't your fault Ginny. You did well to hold Him off for a year."

"I know that now but then? I never thought about why the princess needed rescuing in my stories. It never crossed my mind that she had done something silly. My dad always said never trust anything if you can't see where it keeps its brain. Brilliant advice, if you listen to it.

"I felt it was my fault, not just for writing in the diary, but for wanting that rescue fantasy so much. I felt that I made the situation happen."

"Oh, Ginny." Hermione was tearing herself.

"So I avoid Harry like the plague. How could he want to be near me after that? I nearly got him killed. I know he doesn't think like that. I know it now at least. I didn't back then.

"So I avoid him for the three years. He didn't seem to miss me. Now I realise, how could he? He never knew me to miss me.

"I wanted to be his friend and I couldn't understand why it never happened. I couldn't get him out of my mind. Not all of my nightmares were about what Tom did to me. Most of them were about how sick Harry looked when I woke up. In my nightmares he didn't make it."

Hermione moved over and engulfed the younger girl in a hug.

"I tried dating other guys to get Harry out of my head. Didn't help though. I joined the DA to get closer to him and try to get him to notice me. Not that it worked, he was too busy mooning after Cho. Dad was attacked. He only survived because of Harry. Then the Department of Mysteries. I went because I owed him, because I couldn't let him go alone. I missed out on all your other adventures; I didn't want to miss this one. I had given up on him noticing me by then. I thought that it would be fun. They always seemed exciting when Ron talked about them, bragging about what he got to do. I forgot my own experience."

Ginny sighed. "I got a real strong flash back. But I saw something. Something I hadn't seen before. In all the years I had been watching him I saw Harry happy, sad, angry. I never saw the Harry that rescued me until that night, that determined look where he is going succeed no matter what. Then I learned what his life was really like. Talk about a wakeup call."

"I know. I knew it wasn't good and with Dumbledore messing with me I never asked but it was worse than I expected." Hermione agreed.

"I did a lot of thinking last night."

"I thought you looked tired."

Ginny swatted Hermione's arm before continuing. "I now know I did everything wrong. If I wanted to be his friend, to get his attention, I needed to go to him, to make the first move, to BE his friend instead of just wanting to be."

"I agree. Before the troll incident, I wanted to be his friend but nothing happened. Afterwards I went to him, I acted as if we were friends, and suddenly we were."

"I wish I knew that sooner."

"You know it now. I did tell you to try talking to him."

"Yes yes, I know, but is it too late?"

"I don't think so. Harry isn't anywhere near ready to even consider a long term relationship. Anyone has a chance if they can build a connection with him. We just have to make sure that it's someone worthy of him, who will love him as he deserves."

"And hope it's one of us?" Ginny asked hopefully.

They laughed.

"What do you make of Daphne?" Ginny asked.

"Nice enough. Intelligent and insightful. She is not one of Malfoy's cronies which is good. Why?"

"What do you make of what she said? The possible marriage contract. Sharing him. She seemed totally blasé about sharing him."

"That caught me off guard too. It stuck in my head though."

"Huh?"

"Yeah I know. Could I share him? Seemed ridiculous at the time but after last night... Could I handle him alone? Would I be enough?" Hermione shrugged.

"Like you said. It's far too soon to think about that. He is far from ready."

"Yes. Let's get him thought the summer together. We can worry about the future later."

"Okay. Do you have a plan yet or should I ask you in five minutes?"

Hermione huffed at a giggling Ginny but they cheered up after that.

"I think the shopping trip is the key. If we find the right clothes for us to wear and if we can get him to relax... I think I know where to look too."

"Oh?"

"There is a shop I have always wanted to go to but mum never let me. Said to wait till I was older. Well, I'm older now and I'm done waiting. Our Mr Potter will never know what hit him."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Studying in the sun. In the smallest bikini's you could imagine. Smaller actually given how conservative the wizarding world is."

"My mother would kill me if she caught wind of that. I'm in though. Is that the whole plan, embarrass him by wearing tiny swimsuits in front of him."

"He's a girl now too. We'll get him in one too."

Ginny laughed. "Poor Harry. He is going to either hate us or love us."

"He is going to be a girl for the rest of the summer so he might as well get the full experience."

"Yes. Definitely."

"How would you feel about going further?"

"Further than strutting around him in tiny swimwear?" Ginny was surprised. "Mum would kill me if I sleep with him. Shortly followed by Harry and you if she thought it was your fault."

"I'm not suggesting that. It's just that if we are going to be spending lots of time in the sun there are muggle products that we can use that need to be rubbed into the skin. Everywhere that is exposed to the sun."

"I'm listening."

"There is sun block to prevent sunburn from being in the sun too long. An after sun lotion for when you finish and moisturiser to stop the skin from drying out. Putting any of these on your back is difficult, and they have to be rubbed in."

"I'm beginning to see the plan. I like it, we can't let my mum find out but I like it."

"There is also the difficultly of having long hair get in the way."

Ginny though that one through. "So who ever helps has to touch you pretty well everywhere."

"With the size of the bikini's I'm thinking of, you can forget the pretty well."

"So we get to feel him up for a good cause?" Ginny grinned evilly.

"He will get to touch us too. We can limit it to our backs until we are all more comfortable."

"We take it slow. Good. That should keep him happy."

"And teach him how to relate to women. Get him comfortable with us so we can teach him how to socialise and to give and receive attention. Positive attention instead of negative."

"Something he needs desperately." Ginny smiled. "I like it. It will take some getting used to, but I'll do it."

"Good, because I don't think I could help Harry alone. As much as I like the others or know can trust them due to that oath, I don't. I know you, Ginny. I know you much better than the others. I know I can trust you to focus on Harry above yourself. Harry will give and give with no regard for himself. He needs people who will do the same for him."

"I know. That's why I want to help him. To help you help him. We can let the others in once we can trust them to act appropriately."

"Agreed."

"We should get back."

"Yeah, but first, I need to go."

"Good idea actually."

!HPEaSE!

"You too took your time." Susan greeted them when they got back.

"Sometimes it just takes some time." Hermione replied primly as she and Ginny sat back in their seats.

"Anything happen while we were gone?" Ginny asked.

"No. Yes actually. Luna thought she saw a Blubbering Humdinger a while ago but we went by too quickly to be sure." Harry replied.

"I'm going to tell my daddy about it when we get home so he can come and find out for sure." Luna added.

"Will you be going with him?" Hermione asked, her polite air was obviously forced.

"No, of course not."

"Because they don't really exist?"

"No, because I will be too busy helping Harry. You haven't forgotten our plans for the summer already? I am going to miss a trip to Switzerland to look for Snorkacks to help Harry. If you are not going to take this seriously then why should I. I might as well go with my daddy and see you all in September." Luna scolded Hermione.

"I'm sorry Luna. That was mean of me." Hermione looked chastised.

"Yes it was." Luna said simply before turning her attention to Neville.

How the other girls kept their giggles quiet, we will never know.

!HPEaSE!

There was only one more noteworthy event on the trip to London apart from the scores of passers by trying to get a glimpse of Harry's new body, buried in the back corner of the compartment behind Ginny and the two Hufflepuffs.

Malfoy stopped by for his apparently obligatory visit.

"So Pottette-head, still a girl I see. You had better be even more careful now. The Dark Lord will make quick work of you." Malfoy sneered.

"You are more at risk from him then me at the moment." Harry replied calmly as the other occupants of the compartment stealthily grasped their wands.

"Huh?" Malfoy was taken off guard by that.

"Whatever you two tried to do failed completely. And Voldemort doesn't like failure. He has a habit of sharing his displeasure, well, giving it to everyone else actually. And since you helped him, you get the blame. I except that you will become very intimate with Voldemort's Cruciatus curse before he kills you. Slowly."

"Never. The Malfoy's are his most loyal supporters. We have the purest blood around. The Dark Lord will never do that to us."

"The Malfoy's are slaves and sacrifices like all his other Death Eaters. You live to serve him for only as long as you are useful and don't fail. And you failed big on this one." Harry grinned. "Goodbye Malfoy. I would say that it's been nice knowing you, but I'd be lying. I hope you have your grave site picked out, and a nice bottle to pour your remains into for burial."

Malfoy went for his wand only to be met by the business we end of half a dozen wand points.

"This isn't over Potter." He sneered as he turned to leave.

"Yes, it is. I doubt you will live the summer. Now go while you still have a chance of surviving the train trip."

The door slammed shut as Malfoy vented his frustrations on it.

"Nice Harry." Ginny grinned.

"I almost feel sorry for him. Almost." Susan added.

"What did Professor Dumbledore decide to do about him?" Neville asked.

"He will be 'punished' but not expelled. Dumbledore thinks that Malfoy will run to Voldemort if that happens. Like he's not going to anyway." Harry rolled his eyes.

"So he attacks you and gets away with it. That's going to teach him a lot." Neville sighed. "Let you-know-who kill him and get it over with."

The others agreed.

!HPEaSE!

The red steam train pulled into Platform 9 ¾ and stopped, releasing a cloud of steam. The carriage doors opened disgorging the horde of students on to the platform.

"Last stop everyone. Time to get off. "Ginny said as she reached past Harry and pushed the external door open.

Neville stood. "If you let me out you can pass you trunks to me and I'll stack them outside."

"Good idea. I'll help." Luna followed Neville out on to the bustling platform.

Working together they quickly had all the trunks stacked outside on the platform.

Neville leaned in through the door. "Okay. All set? I'll see you all later."

"See you Neville. We'll try to get together over the break."

"That would be great. Bye."

Luna gave Neville a firm hug as she said goodbye and Neville vanished into the crowd.

Luna stepped back into the compartment and hugged Harry. "Good-bye everyone. I'll see you this weekend."

"Stay safe Luna." Harry replied.

Luna vanished after Neville.

Hannah looked at the others. "I had better go find my parents."

"Yeah, me too." Ginny said.

"We'll see you soon." Hermione said as she gave Ginny a hug.

"Look after Harry." Ginny whispered into Hermione's ear before she let go and hugged Harry.

"Bye." Ginny and Hannah moved off.

"Let's go. If we find my aunt then Hermione's parents, we can see what's going to happen this afternoon." Susan said.

Harry and Hermione nodded and followed the Hufflepuff out of the compartment. They collected their trunks and moved off into the crowd.

It took a bit of hunting but they soon located Susan's aunt. Or rather her aunt found them.

Madam Amelia Bones had worked her way up through the Auror ranks. She knew how to spot someone in a crowd.

She could recognise one of Susan's companions, Hermione Granger, from the fiasco at the Ministry a few days ago. The identity of the other girl eluded her though, until she suddenly turned at her approach. The intense green-eyes framed by long dark hair looked both familiar and strange at the same time.

Susan turned to see why Harry had suddenly stopped and her face broke into a smile as she saw her aunt.

"Aunty." Susan threw herself into her aunt's arms.

"Hello Susan. Did you have a good term, a good trip home?"

"Yes, thank you. Are you well?"

"Yes. The last few days have been rather busy though."

"I can imagine. Can I introduce my friends?"

"I have already met Miss Granger and I am glad to see she is doing much better."

"Thank you, Madam Bones." Hermione replied.

"You welcome. And how are you Miss?"

"Harry Potter. And I've been better." Harry said dryly.

"Mr Potter? I didn't recognise you."

"I've been through a few changes since the Ministry."

"I can see. I had hoped to talk to you then but Professor Dumbledore had other ideas."

"We are about to have a large difference of opinion. But seeing as we are out of school, I don't think that the Headmaster really has much say in the matter."

"I would still like to talk to you at your earliest convenience."

"We were hoping to visit Gringotts this afternoon; you would be more than welcome to join us. We just need to find Hermione's parents and see if they are okay taking us."

"If not, I will offer to escort to escort you personally."

"Thank you." Harry said sincerely.

"We had better find my parents." Hermione said.

"Indeed. After you Miss Granger." Amelia gestured.

Making their way through the barrier they soon located Hermione parents, waiting patiently for their daughter and her friend.

Emily and Daniel Granger smiled happily as their daughter abandoned her trunk and friends and ran into their arms.

Greeting their daughter they noticed two girls and an older women waiting nearby watching the Granger family reunion.

"Who are your friends, Hermione?" Emily asked.

"Oh, sorry. This is Susan Bones and her aunt Madam Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. And this is Harry Potter, whom you met about three years ago."

"I remember a dark haired boy that Hermione was excited to introduce to us."

"I remember being a boy just a few days ago. Imagine my discomfort, waking up each morning for the last few days and finding otherwise." Harry replied.

"Is discomfort even the right word?" Daniel Granger entered the conversation.

"Based on the discussions Hermione and the others have inflicted on me and my own experiences dealing with my new body. I would have to say that 'discomfort' is not lacking in accuracy, only intensity."

"And I assume that the words that would correctly describe the intensity would not be suitable in polite company."

"That would not be an incorrect assumption."

His response was met by laughter.

"Yeah, laugh it up. Everybody seems to enjoy this much more than me." Harry grumbled.

"Well, this is the first time Hermione has ever asked to have a friend stay. We weren't sure about having a boy stay. I must say that this is most unexpected." Emily Granger said.

"It took me by surprise too I must say." Harry replied.

"We should be going. We mustn't keep Madam Bones." Daniel Granger said.

"Actually," Hermione interrupted tentatively, "Madam Bones needs to speak with Harry and we were hoping we could go to Diagon Alley. Harry needs to visit Gringotts, as soon as possible. Today if it's not too much trouble."

"We do have the afternoon free. We were hoping to catch up with you but I suppose since we have waited this long, we can wait till this evening." Hermione's parents shared a long suffering sigh.

"It's not that bad." Hermione huffed.

"If you insist." Daniel teased.

He turned to Madam Bones. "Will you be able to get to Diagon Alley or would you like a ride? I think we can squeeze us all into our car."

"I was going to Apparate but if Susan would like to accompany you?"

"Yes please. If it's alright?" Susan said excitedly.

"Sure. We will see you where?" Daniel turned back to Amelia.

"How long will it take you to get to the Alley?"

"Depends of the traffic really. No more than half an hour I would think."

"Very well. I will meet you in the Gringotts foyer in 30 minutes. Have a safe journey. Behave yourself Susan. Leave your trunk I will take it home for you."

"Yes aunty, and thank you."

The Granger's, Harry and Susan moved off through the crowd while Amelia took Susan's trunk and moved back through the portal to the platform so that she could Apparate.

Harry was looking around, He figured that the Dursley's would be around here somewhere and wanted to avoid the confrontation. He thought he might have spotted them in the distance but that was as close as it got. He also wanted to avoid the Weasley's. As much as he liked them, he didn't want to have to explain why he was with Hermione and not going back to Privet Drive. Or to the Burrow.

He was fortunate and managed to avoid any potentially disastrous situation. They made it to the Granger's car, a nice Land Rover. The trunks were stacked in the boot and Harry and the two girls slid into the back seat.

"This is nice." Susan commented as Hermione helped her with the seat belt.

"All set back there?" Daniel asked as he started the engine. Receiving an affirmative response he set off for Charing Cross road.

"So, what do you kids have planned for the summer? Not too much studying I hope." Emily asked as her husband negotiated the London traffic.

"Depends on what you consider too much." Harry said back.

"Hey." Hermione complained.

"It's supposed to a nice summer. You need to spend some of it outside." Emily lightly scolded her daughter.

"I am actually planning on spending a large amount of time outside this summer, thank you very much." Hermione replied primly.

"What have you got up your sleeve young lady?"

"Just my arm."

"What about the other sleeve?"

"My other arm. Honestly what would you expect someone to have up their sleeve?"

"A lot. We will continue this discussion later."

"Yes, mum." Hermione said resigned to the forthcoming interrogation.

"So, Susan. Which, house is it? Which house are you in?" Emily turned her attention to the young women she had just met.

"Hufflepuff, ma'am." Susan replied politely.

"That's the one for the hard-workers correct?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"You don't have to call me ma'am. Emily is just fine. That applies to you too Harry."

"Thank you ma'am, Emily." Susan blushed slightly at her mistake.

"So, how did you meet Hermione?"

"We have had some classes together over the years but I really got to know Harry and Hermione during a study group Harry taught this year."

"Harry taught a study group? I see my daughter's overachieving ways are rubbing off on you."

"Perhaps. Although I like to think that Ron and I have managed to corrupt her a little too." Harry grinned at Hermione.

"It would probably do her some good. Relaxing is one lesson we have struggled to pass on to her."

"I disagree. She relaxes all the time. It's just that she finds research, homework and studying relaxing."

That got a huff from Hermione that set her parents laughing.

"Do you have any plans for the summer? We got a little of topic." Emily asked.

"Well, we were planning on making our shopping trip this weekend into a bit of a girl's day out." Hermione said.

"How many girls did you invite along?" Emily asked.

"Ginny Weasley, Harry, he really needs some new clothes, Susan here and five other girls."

"Just a bit of a girl's day out them."

"It's not going to be a problem, is it?" Hermione rushed.

"Logistically yes. That's ten people to ferry around, including myself. Other than that there isn't a problem. It good that you have good enough friends to invite along."

"I would have invited Ron and Harry sooner but I didn't think that they would really enjoy shopping. Would you Harry?" Hermione replied.

"I don't know. The few experiences I've had with my aunt and uncle were not pleasant. But given that they actively despised me there wasn't really anyway I could." Harry looked sad for a minute before forcing his thoughts to happier times. "I am dreading this trip a little though. There are eight girl's who are going to want to dress me up in girl's clothing. No offense but that doesn't really appeal to me."

Emily laughed.

"I'm sorry Harry but for the time being you are a girl so you are going to have to act like it. And that means shopping and other girly things. Like doing your hair." Susan said sternly. "And running a brush or comb through it a couple of time doesn't count."

"Actually, given that you will be living with me in the muggle world, we had better start using female terms when talking about Harry. It would look really odd talking about a girl but saying him." Hermione said.

"Yes, we mustn't stand out." Susan agreed.

"Do I get a choice?" Harry asked.

"Not unless you can turn yourself back." Hermione replied.

Harry didn't say another thing for the rest of the trip.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

If fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

Again, thanks to all those who reviewed. There was some very good feedback. I apologise for the delay in releasing this chapter. I have read several notes from people who have suffered hard drive crashes, I had my first one just a couple of weeks ago. The first one in nearly two decades of using a computer. Most irritating really. It was fortunate that I managed to recover what I had written since my last backup.

Enough of my woes, here's the next chapter for everyone's enjoyment.

**Chapter 6**

Daniel Granger was pretty well spot on with his time estimate as he parked down the street from the Leaky Cauldron.

Making their way through the pub to Diagon Alley and down the Alley to Gringotts they noticed how quiet the Alley was.

Amelia met them at the entrance to Gringotts.

"Nicely timed. I have only just arrived myself." She greeted them.

"Glad we didn't keep you waiting. Particularly given how busy you must be." Harry replied.

"May I inquire as to your purpose here?"

"I need to find out how much money I have, and I have something to sell them."

"I would imagine you have quite a lot. The Potter family is quite old and reasonably wealthy. They would have some investments and businesses that would be making a reasonable profit."

"I didn't know any of this." Harry whispered in surprise.

"You didn't? Who is responsible for educating you about your family's history? Teaching you about being a Head of Family and the responsibilities that go with it?" Amelia was surprised.

"No one. I imagine that my godfather would have but..." Harry trailed off.

"Yes, but surely Professor Dumbledore would have done something?"

"No. I didn't even know I needed to ask about it."

"That is most unexpected." Amelia frowned. "Albus goes out of his way to guide you and keep others away. I would have expected him to take responsibility for the additional education you would require."

"I would imagine that he would say that he didn't want to burden me unnecessarily, to shorten my childhood anymore than he had too." Harry looked angry.

"Well then. Let's start your education. You need to ask for the Head Manager for the Potter account. Be polite but firm. And don't let then push you off on to a minor manager. You are the Head of the Potter family and deserve the respect according to your station. Stand tall and be strong." Amelia lectured.

Harry took a deep breath and nodded. Stepping forward he lead them into the bank.

Walking up to an unoccupied teller Harry waited until the goblin finished what he was writing and looked up.

"Hello, I wish to speak with the Head Manager for the Potter Account." Harry asked politely.

"Certainly Mr Potter. Or is 'Miss' Potter more appropriate?" The goblin replied as he signalled for a goblin.

"I would prefer Mr Potter thank you."

A younger goblin arrived, one that looked familiar to Harry. The reason for this was obvious once the goblin teller spoke.

"Griphook, Mr Potter wishes to see the Head Manager for the Potter account. Please escort him accordingly." The goblin teller instructed the young goblin.

Nodding, Griphook turned to Harry and his friends. "If you would follow me please."

"Thank you Griphook. It is good to see you again, I trust you are well." Harry asked as he followed the goblin.

"Yes, thank you Mr Potter. I am surprised you remember me."

"I assume from that that most wizards ignore you. And call me Harry."

"Thank you. Only the more polite ones. The rest treat us like slaves."

"That doesn't surprise me."

Griphook paused at a door. "I hope you recover from your unfortunate situation, Harry."

"You and me both."

Griphook led them into the room.

"Mr Potter to see you, Hooksnarl."

"Thank you Griphook. It is a pleasure to meet again Mr Potter. You have grown considerably since our last meeting."

"Thank you Hooksnarl. I wish I had the pleasure of remembering our previous meeting but I assume it occurred while my parents were still alive."

"Indeed. Your father had brought you with him to discuss some business and set up your trust vault. I trust that vault has been acceptable?" The goblin gave a small smile.

"It has been more that acceptable. Now however I wish to learn more about the Potter account as a whole."

"I have been sending statements to Mr Dumbledore since your parent's untimely demise. Has he not been passing them on to you?"

"No, he has not. Although he would probably have a suitable explanation for why not." Harry looked angry.

"So you have a lot of catching up to do."

"If I may interrupt?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, Miss? Oh I'm sorry, Mrs Potter."

"Mrs Potter? We're not married?" Hermione was confused.

"Hermione?" Daniel Granger asked tightly. "Why does the think that you and Harry are married?"

"I don't know." Hermione exchanged a confused look with Harry then they turned as one to look at Susan.

"Susan, is there something you would like to add?" Hermione asked glaring at the other girl.

"Susan Amelia Bones. What did you do?" Amelia demanded sternly.

"Umm. We needed to swear an oath to Harry and I picked the strongest one I could think of."

"Which one?" Amelia was getting angry.

"I don't know the name of it. It was in one of the old books in the library."

"Oh no. In how many ways did it bind you?"

"Five." Susan was getting a little scared now.

Amelia Bones slumped. "That is a strong oath, but most inappropriate. Were there any other clauses, like perhaps a way out?"

"I added a clause for my magic to aid me in the oath and for it to last until Harry released me."

"Well that is at least something. Harry..."

"No." Susan stared at her aunt.

"I beg your pardon young lady."

"No. Harry isn't going to release me just yet. I'm not going to let him. However inappropriate the oath may have been the reason for it is still sound. I promised to help Harry and until that reason is no longer valid I choose to remain bound by the oath."

"Susan has a point." Hermione said quietly. "There was a reason we took the oath; and the reason remains."

Amelia had been shocked into silence and was wondering what would provoke such a response in her niece. Then it hit her.

"The Hall of Prophecy's. There is a prophecy that links you and you-know-how isn't there Harry? That's why you were in the Department of Mysteries."

"Yes." Harry was surprised she had made the connection so quickly.

"Do you know the prophecy? Does you-know-who?"

"Yes and no. The prophecy sphere was destroyed before he could hear it. Dumbledore told me the prophecy that evening."

"How did he know it?"

"It was made to him."

"You shared it with Susan and Hermione didn't you."

"Yes, and the others."

"Others?"

"Yes, we have a total of eight wives registered to Mr Potter. Miss Bones, Miss Granger, Miss Greengrass, Miss Davis, Miss Patel, Miss Weasley, and Miss Lovegood." Hooksnarl inserted into the conversation.

"Well Ginny will be happy, I think." Hermione said.

She looked around at the surprised faces. "She has wanted to be Mrs Potter since she was five. She's grown out of it but I think a part of her would be happy by this."

"It's not a total disaster at least." Amelia commented. "Once you-know-who is dealt with you will no longer require the oath and Harry can release you."

"I will be happy too." Harry said.

"Just a word of warning. That oath was used to bind senior family servants and mistresses. The oath makes you a legal part of his family. Even without formal wedding vows any children would be legitimate. If any of the girls consummate this oath with Harry then it will be permanent. They can't be released. This is not an issue at the moment given Harry's current situation, sorry Harry, but if, when, he gets turned back then you will all need to be aware of this." Amelia looked at the three students to ensure she was understood.

"We understand. Susan, you get to tell the others." Hermione replied.

"Now that is just mean." Susan grumped. "Oh alright. It's my fault. I'll do it."

"Now that that is sorted, you were going to say something, Mrs Potter." Hooksnarl prodded.

"I think Miss Granger would be better for the time being." Hermione replied, Susan nodded her agreement.

"Very well, Miss Granger. Please continue."

"I was going ask if it is still possible to get copies of those statements."

"Certainly. We can provide copies of all transactions for the last 649 years for the Potter account. I would not recommend asking for them all but I believe we can accommodate the time frame you desire."

"If you give Harry a summary now and the transactions for, say, the last twenty years, we could look through them and then come back to you when we have specific questions."

"That sounds an excellent suggestion Miss Granger. I will have the papers compiled and sent to you, Mr Potter, as soon as they are ready. I will also include all property and business holdings and the vault contents. That should tell you everything about the Potter account"

"Thank you Hooksnarl. And please call me Harry."

"Certainly, Harry. Is there anything is particular you wish to discuss while you are here?"

"Yes. I was hoping to hire Gringotts warding services for the Granger residence and also ward upgrades for a number of other families."

"All of your wives' families I presume."

"And the Longbottom's residence as well."

"That can be arranged. And since they are family, except for the Longbottom's, the Potter family can pay for the wards, instead of your trust vault."

"That would be excellent. Thank you. There is one last thing. I recently came into possession of a quantity of rare meat and I understand that goblins are particularly partial to such things."

"Indeed we are. I will send to for The Assessor. He deals with any meat purchases."

"Thank you." Harry pulled the shrunken trunk containing the basilisk meat. "Madam Bones, could you please enlarge this for me."

"Certainly. And Feel free to call me Aunty or Amelia. You are married to my niece for the time being."

"Thank you but that is quite alright, Madam Bones."

With a simple tap of her wand the trunk return to its normal size.

The Assessor arrived a few minutes later. A much older goblin that moved slowly, his joins stiff with age. He was followed by a younger goblin carrying a collection of tools which he laid out for his elder and stood back.

"So I hear someone has some meat they want to entice some money out of us with. Rare meat." The goblin scoffed, "What would humans know about rare meat."

"I think that this might capture you interest." Harry opened the truck briefly to pull once of the smaller packages of basilisk meat and handed it to the old goblin. "A sample for your assessment."

The goblin unwrapped the package and immediately his attention was fixed on the meat within.

"It's from..." Harry began.

"Silence. I will ask when I am ready for that. If it is needed." The Assessor overrode him.

The Assessor begin studying the meat, weighing it, smelling it, testing it in way no human could understand. Finally he sliced of a small piece held it over a small but hot flame for a moment, smelt it again and then ate it.

"Exquisite. Fascinating texture, unique taste and nicely aged. It seems I am at a loss. It has similarities to snake meat but I must confess that I cannot identify this particular species. Rare you said. I would say unique. Tell me where did you find this."

"It is basilisk meat." Harry paused when Amelia gasped. "I believe that it is the same creature that Salazar Slytherin placed in the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts about one thousand years ago."

"Well you have both rare and unique there. How did it die? I do not believe that any basilisk would die of old age."

"I killed it three years ago."

The old goblin stared at Harry. "You killed a one thousand year old basilisk. By yourself?"

"I had help from Fawkes, Albus Dumbledore's phoenix. He blinded it and I killed it with a sword."

"How did you managed to kill it with a sword. You would have been, what, twelve years old?"

"I stabbed it into its brain through the roof of its mouth."

"And you didn't get bitten, amazing."

"I was bitten." Harry pulled up his sleeve to reveal the puncture wound.

"And you are still alive? Wait, you mentioned a phoenix. The phoenix healed you didn't it."

"Yes. It was close thing though."

"I would imagine. How large was the basilisk?"

"About 57 feet long."

"Incredible. A feat worthy of the greatest of goblin warriors. I would like to see the blade that ended it life."

"Dumbledore has it in his office. It was the sword of Godric Gryffindor."

"That blade is known to us. It was made by goblins." The Assessor looked at Harry speculatively. "So it has a new master. One that is more worthy of it than its previous one.

"Tell the story of your victory. When the spoils of battle are distributed the tale of the victory must be told. Tell me the story of your victory over the Basilisk of Slytherin. Tell me everything." The Assessor settled in a chair to listen.

"Well. I suppose that the story began during the summer after first year when I wasn't receiving any mail and I found a strange house elf jumping on my bed..." Harry began.

Harry told the story, hesitantly at first but with growing confidence. He had his audience, human and goblin alike, captivated for over half an hour. When he finished the old goblin applauded.

"A true epic. Worthy of even a Master Warrior. Now we must set a price. A price worthy of your accomplishment. Let me think." The old goblin pondered.

"There is a lot of meat. Several tons I believe." Harry spoke up.

"That actually has little bearing. Do you have it all here?"

Harry nodded and opened the trunk at his feet.

The old goblin studied the contents. "Incredible. I don't suppose you have the rest of it."

"I only have the skeleton with me. The rest of the basilisk is being processed."

"I would be more than pleased to see the skull."

Nodding, Harry pulled out the second trunk and looked over at Amelia. She nodded and tapped it with her wand, expanding it back to its original size.

Opening the trunk the skull was obvious, sitting on top of the rest of the skeleton.

"Incredible." Showing surprising strength as he pulled the skull out, the old goblin examined it. "Absolutely incredible. You don't appreciate the size until you are looking it the face."

"Funnily. I that was the very problem I had." Harry said dryly.

The old goblin laughed. "I am thinking 300 to 350 galleons."

"Per ton, for everything?" Harry asked.

"Per pound."

"But, there are several tons." Harry was astounded.

"About 6 and a quarter actually. You would be looking at 4.2 to 4.9 million galleons."

"That is far too much. I can't accept." Harry stuttered a little.

"350 galleons it is then. Do you want it deposited in your family vault or your trust vault? I recommend your trust vault, so you have immediate access."

"Okay." Harry whispered in shock.

"Excellent. I will have the meat transferred immediately." The Assessor motioned to his assistant who moved forward and took the trunk with the meat and left. "You will see he gets his money in his trust vault?"

Hooksnarl nodded. "I will begin the transaction immediately." He wrote out a message on a piece of parchment and handed it to Griphook, who also left.

"The initial summary will be here shortly and also the Head of the Warding department to discuss the wards you wish created. And congratulations, you are now probably the richest wizard on the planet."

"Thanks." Harry was still in a state of shock.

He wasn't the only one. Both the Bones and Granger family were stunned into silence by the events that had just unfolded before them. It was Hermione who broke the silence first.

"Harry, you realise just how much money you made don't you?"

"A lot? I'm not sure exactly. It's not that much is it."

"In muggle terms, you just made nearly £50 million."

"Oh. That's a lot." Harry seemed to be on the verge of fainting.

He was saved when a knock on the door gave him a new focus.

"Enter." Hooksnarl called.

A new goblin, older than Hooksnarl but much younger than The Assessor, entered the room with two goblin assistants and one human. A tall red headed male Harry immediately recognised.

The lead goblin marched into the room, bowing to the Assessor but ignoring the humans. He turned to Hooksnarl and was about to speak when he froze and turned back to stare at the massive skull next to The Assessor.

"A magnificent trophy don't you think, Tapstone? One belonging to Master Warrior Potter here." The Assessor chuckled as he slapped Harry on the arm respectfully.

"A magnificent trophy indeed. Congratulations on a worthy kill, Master Warrior." The new goblin, Tapstone, bowed to Harry. "What may the Gringotts warders do for the Potter family?"

"There are a number of families that I wish to ensure are fully protected against Voldemort and his followers and against any others who wish them harm." Harry stated.

"An honourable goal. One we are most capable of assisting you in."

"For a fee I imagine." Harry returned.

Tapstone grinned. "We goblins truly believe in matching value to achievement."

"So I have recently learnt. It is fortuitous that you brought Mr Weasley with you. His family is one of those I wish to protect."

"And the others?"

"Granger, Bones, Lovegood, Longbottom, Abbott, Patel, Greengrass, and Davis."

"A wide mix of families. How protected do you wish them?"

"Enough that no one even makes the attempt."

"Ah. The full treatment then. I noticed that you did not include you own. An oversight or intentional?"

"An oversight I am sure." Hooksnarl injected. "I am sure that Master Warrior Potter wishes for all of the properties owned by him to be fully protected."

"Yes, thank you Hooksnarl." Harry agreed. "But can everyone please just call me Harry."

"I can see why you like him, Master Assessor." Tapstone nodded to the old goblin. "For you, Harry, I believe we can accommodate you request for four hundred thousand galleons. Is this within your means?"

"Yes, I believe it is." Harry replied with a smile. "While we are on the subject could you give me an estimate on how much a set of wards would cost that could protect a family for ten to thirty minutes, would warn the family of the attack and would ensure that an emergency portkey would still function regardless of attempts to block it?"

"I assume you wish the portkey included in the package. If I understand you, you want a set of defences that will warn and protect a family long enough to escape via portkey."

"Yes, exactly."

"It would be quite cheap actually, in comparison at least. Maybe 200 galleons. Which family did you want protected?"

"All of them. Every squib, muggle-born, half-blood and pure-blood family who is willing to swear an oath to never follow, aid or support Voldemort in anyway."

"That is an incredible goal. But there is no way you could afford it." Bill Weasley blurted out them froze. "My apologies for speaking out of turn." He bowed to Tapstone.

"I understand the low requirements better now. Especially given you lengths you are willing to go to protect those close to you. How much are you willing to spend on this gesture to the wizarding world?"

"One, one and a half million galleons maybe. And not just for wizards. If there are other at risk groups I am willing to make the same offer. How much do you think it will cost?"

"I would start with one million galleons and see how far that takes us. Do you wish for this to be in your name?"

"No thank you."

"Harry, if I may interrupt?" Amelia spoke."

"Yes, Madam Bones?"

"If you have your name attached to it then more people will take advantage of it. Which will aid you in achieving your goals. The oath will prevent you-know-who's supporters from abusing your gift and you will gain immense political capital. You could make a lot of positive changes."

"How many improvements could you make with a one million galleon donation to the DMLE?"

Amelia's eyes widened with astonishment. She shook herself and though about the offer and what it would achieve.

"Not as much as either of us would like. I could provide the best equipment. But the other half of the problem is people. Even without the budget cuts, there are very few people who meet the requirements for Auror training."

"The lack of a NEWT Potions wouldn't be the reason wouldn't it?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

"I've met the Hogwarts Potions Professor. There are very few students who proceed with potions after their OWLs."

"I have often wondered if that was the reason but Albus always insisted that there were no problems. Even with Susan insisting that he was an appalling teacher."

"I know. I thought about becoming an Auror when I graduate but I doubt I will get the Outstanding OWL needed to take NEWT potions. Perhaps if you provided a potions refresher course to bring a wider range of candidates up to the necessary level. Would that make a difference?"

"Yes. And we could hire one easily with the amount of money you are offering. Harry you are wonderful. " Amelia was nearly gushing.

"Hooksnarl, could you make the arrangements?"

"Certainly. Is there anything in particular you wish said in the announcement?"

"Harry, how about 'Gringotts and Harry Potter. In partnership to protect the people.'" Hermione said.

"That sounds pretty good actually. Thanks Hermione."

"And Gringotts is honoured to share in the publicity." Tapstone added.

"May I ask you a question, Tapstone?" Hermione inquired.

"Certainly."

"Do you have or is it possible to create a ward to detect and incapacitate someone baring the Dark Mark?"

"We don't have a ward like that. If we had access to someone who bore the Dark Mark I believe we could create one though."

"Madam Bones, you have several Death Eaters in custody. Do you think you could allow Tapstone and some of his people to have access to them?" Harry turned to Amelia.

"A truly inspired idea. I believe we can arrange something. I will want something in return though."

"But of course, name your terms."

"I would like that ward applied to the Ministry, Diagon Alley, St Mungo's, Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and all other major wizarding areas, for a very favourable rate."

"A 'very' favourable rate hmm. Would fifty thousand galleons be favourable enough? And I will of course be including all the residences on Harry's list as well."

"I believe that would be most favourable. I assume payment up front will be preferred."

"Thank you. Most kind. We can make the arrangements for my people to have access later, once I have finished my dealings with Harry."

"Agreed." Amelia nodded respectfully to the goblin.

"I apologise, we appear to have gotten off track." Tapstone returned his attention to Harry.

"Not at all. I believe we have been on the right track this entire time. And thank you for including me with the new ward." Harry thought a minute. "Other than a donation to St Mungo's of say two hundred thousand for wards and equipment upgrades and more staff, I believe I am about finished. Does anyone else have any ideas?"

"I have one if I may Harry. If you don't mind me spending your money that is." Hermione asked tentatively.

"Please."

"Mum, dad, I will need your permission as well."

Hermione's parents shared a look. "Perhaps if you tell us what you want to do." Daniel replied.

"I was thinking that we could expand some of the areas of the house so we would have room to train. May be we could expand the backyard as well. You always wanted a swimming pool. We could have room for both an indoor and outdoor one."

"As good as your intentions are, there are restrictions on how much you can enchant a muggle home." Amelia said.

"We could double the backyard side and mask it with wards so that muggles don't notice. Because it is a muggle home we cannot block the property completely from view but we can make people ignore it and any event that occurs there. As to the internal areas, I am afraid that Madam Bones has a point. You cannot alter internal areas of a muggle house." Tapstone explained.

"Oh. That is disappointing." Hermione looked downcast.

"We could build a hidden extension. You could put what wanted in there and the whole structure could be hidden from muggles. You could have a floo connection in there and all your magical items could be stored there preventing any possible muggle discovery."

"That would be even better." Hermione looked up again, breaking into a huge smile. "Mum, dad, would that be okay? You always said that you would turn my room into a hobby room when I moved out. If the extension had some bedrooms we could have some wizarding guests as well."

"Would we be allowed in to this special extension?" Emily asked.

"Of course. We would never keep you out."

"If I may suggest something?" Tapstone interrupted.

"Please do."

"If Harry has the remainder of the basilisk skeleton, we could make the entrance room to the extension also include a floo connection and animate the basilisk skeleton to act as a guardian."

"That is actually a very good idea. I like it." Harry grinned. "Much better than just putting it on display to impress the masses. Besides, seeing the reactions of everyone as they arrive to find a huge snake with a set of very large teeth to greet them will be priceless."

"You have been spending too much time with the twins." Hermione chuckled.

"How would you like the extension structured?" Tapstone gestured to an assistant to take notes.

"I was thinking the entrance room, which will like the house and floo connection to the rest of the extension. Two levels. Top level could have several bedrooms, library, study area, may be even a kitchen and dining area. Downstairs, a swimming pool, training room, living area which could link to the outside if possible and a duelling room would be great. Anything else Harry?"

"An indoor Quidditch pitch would be great. If you can manage it." Harry grinned.

"You and Quidditch." Hermione shook her head. Looking back at Tapstone she paused and leaned forward and quietly asked, "I don't suppose it is possible to ensure that no activities that occur within is extension can be detected outside of it?"

Tapstone grinned. "We can arrange that. I believe that I have an understanding of your requirements. I imagine you would like the backyard remodelled as well. I will bring some sample plans when the warding starts tomorrow. The extension will need to wait until after the property wards are finished. You can think about how you would like the backyard remodelled while the extension is being constructed. With the expansion in place you will have a much better feel for the space."

"Thank you. You have been very helpful. How much will this cost?" Hermione looked a little tentative.

"I think that an additional ten thousand will be sufficient. I believe that my people will enjoy being able to exploit their full potential. It doesn't happen often. I will pass the extension's plans over to the Construction department."

Griphook returned carrying several parchments. Hooksnarl frowned at him until Griphook gave a long spiel in Gobbledegook. Hooksnarl looked surprised and turned to Harry.

"It appears that while Griphook was retrieving the summary of the Potter account he was made aware of an incident regarding the Black account. It appears that a Mr Draco Malfoy has been emancipated and taken over as Head of the Malfoy family and is now trying to claim the Head of the Black family as well. The Manager of the Black account has been having some issues that you and Madam Bones may be able to help clear up. If you don't mind them interrupting this."

"That's okay. I will have to deal with this sooner or later. And I don't want Malfoy getting his hands on Sirius's legacy." Harry looked upset.

"Harry, you might want to put the skull away first." Hermione said coming over to hug him. "You will be okay. We are right here with you."

"Thanks." Harry gripped Hermione briefly then stood and moved the skull back to the trunk and closed it. "Here, Tapstone. One basilisk skeleton. I look forward to the results."

The goblin grinned at him and motioned an assistant forward to take the trunk. The assistant left with the trunk.

Harry took a deep breath as a new goblin entered the room followed by Draco Malfoy, who immediately sneered.

Draco had returned home to learn of his father's conviction and the death of his cousin and only male Black alive. Immediately pestering his mother to emancipate him he came to Gringotts to claim his place as the Head of the Malfoy family and press a claim for the Black family as well. Learning that there were some irregularities that needed to be resolved before he could claim the Black family had put him in a bad mood. Now finding himself in a room with Potter a Mudblood, several muggles and some blood-traitors pushed his mood over the edge.

"What are you doing here Potter?" He spat.

Harry ignored Malfoy and directed his attention to the goblin who accompanied him, standing he bowed respectfully to the goblin.

"Greetings, I presume that you are the Head Manager for the Black family account? How may I be of assistance?"

"Mr Potter? I am Swirlfang. The problem is regarding the Last Will and Testament of one Sirius Black and its validity due to his time in Azkaban. His will was lodged with us in August of 1980 over a year prior to his incarceration. The will remains valid and unchanged except for a codicil that I received in January this year. Now his incarceration would render his will invalid but I have found no records of his conviction. I am hoping that you or Madam Bones could clear this up for me."

"He was imprisoned. His Will is invalid. I am the only male descendent of the Black family." Malfoy interrupted.

"Not true actually. Your mother was a member of the Black family. Harry's has a link to the Black family via Dorea Black, a sister to the then Head of family. He also has as claim to the title." Hooksnarl replied.

"The reason you could not find any records is because there was no trial. If there was then he could have testified under Veritaserum and would have been found innocent." Harry answered Swirlfang.

"So he was not convicted. That means that his Will is still valid. This changes things considerably. His Will is quite simple in that he leaves any and all money, properties, businesses, titles, etc... To you, Mr Potter. He has also included a codicil to have you emancipated immediately."

"That has no bearing. Potter is now a girl and no girl can be the Head of a family." Malfoy pushed back into the conversation. "In fact if he has a claim on the Black family then since the Potter family no longer has a male heir I will take that family as well." Malfoy leered at Potter. "Don't worry, I will only cast you out with nothing."

"The only reason he is a girl at the moment is because of the potion you gave him." Susan yelled to him, her cheeks flushed with anger.

The goblin's attention snapped to Susan. "Is this true? Mr Malfoy is responsible for Mr Potter's situation?" Swirlfang questioned the girl.

"Yes, I personally witnessed the end of his attack on Harry. Where he pulled the potion vial away from Harry's lips."

"So what? There is nothing you can do about it, the old fool has seen to that." Malfoy sneered at Susan.

"You admit this Mr Malfoy?" Swirlfang questioned.

"Yeah, so what? And its Lord Malfoy to you."

"This changes things a lot. Whatever you intentions at the time, you have interfered with the legitimate line of succession for a major family. This violates the Inheritance and Line Protection act of 1329. Any person who interferes with an heir or potential heir to a family or who in any way encourages someone to do so for them and then tries to profit from that act is removed from the line of succession of that family and any family connected to that family." Swirlfang lectured. "You may retain your position as Head of the Malfoy family but you have just lost any claim to the Black family, the Lestrange family and the Potter family."

The goblin turned to Harry. "Would you like to claim the Black and Lestrange family titles?"

"Yes thank you."

Draco started spluttering incoherently.

"The female issue is a problem but this is not the first time this method of altering the line of succession has been used. After the Ministry started getting serious about the killing of heir's, people started getting more inventive. We at Gringotts created a device to test a potential heir and see if they are still eligible. The test is simple. You must have been born male and must still be capable of impregnating a female without assistance. This means that either this transformation is temporary or removable or you have some means of compensating."

"What does this test involve?" Harry asked.

"It is quite simple. You just need to hold this sphere." Hooksnarl answered gestured to a small box now resting on his desk.

Griphook picked up the box and brought it to Harry and opened it revealing a clear sphere. Harry reached in and pulled it out and held it in both hands.

The sphere started swirling with colours, blues and pinks. They finally settled down showing a mix of blue and pink in an odd pattern.

Harry showed the sphere to Griphook.

"Interesting. I believe that this indicates that while this change may be permanent you still have the capability to impregnate a woman. Whether you can be turned back or can access you male self via another fashion I don't know. You pass the test. Congratulations Harry."

"So Harry, do you want to claim the Black and Lestrange families." Hooksnarl grinned at Harry.

"The Black family definitely. The Lestrange family? Why not, I could put their money to good use. May be starting a fund to enable more muggle-born witches and wizards to attend Hogwarts." Harry replied.

"A noble idea. I will notify the Head Manager of the Lestrange account. Would you like the same papers from the Black and Lestrange families as for the Potter family."

"Yes please. That would be wonderful."

Draco had been spluttering ineffectually through all of this. He had held out a small hope while Harry took the test but now was terrified. If his aunt Bellatrix found out that he had lost her vault she would kill him. Very, very, slowly.

He was desperate and not thinking clearly. A life time of arrogance and his family name getting him out of trouble let him to believe that he could get away with what he did next.

He turned to Harry, the person he blamed for everything that went wrong in his life, pulled his wand and shouted the killing curse.

Harry had been on edge since Malfoy had entered the room. He had recognised the limited mobility being seated afforded him and had lent forward and moved to the edge of his seat. That was the only reason he was able to pull off his next feat. He stood and pulled the chair he was sitting on round and threw it in the path of the killing curse. Pulling his wand he lent past The Assessor and shouted the shield spell.

The killing curse exploded the chair and the debris bounced of the shield. No had time to cast anymore spells as both Harry and Malfoy were distracted by the feel of cold steel at their necks.

Harry could see an armoured goblin guard holding a halberd to Malfoy's neck and assumed the same applied to him.

The Assessor turned an angry look and even angrier voice towards the goblin threatening Harry.

"You will take you weapon away from Master Warrior Potter before you are sent back to the crèche."

The goblin practically dropped his weapon and knelt before Harry.

"I beg your apology Master Warrior. I meant no insult."

"It's okay. You didn't know and you were only doing your job."

"I thank you for your forgiveness Master Warrior."

"Mr Malfoy, are you aware of just what you have done. You have violated the treaty. No wizard is permitted to use magic within the walls of Gringotts without permission, and Gringotts retains full privileges to determine and enforce any punishment we deem appropriate." Hooksnarl spoke directly and intently to Malfoy.

"So what is this going to cost me? One, two thousand galleons? And it is Lord Malfoy."

"No, 'Mr' Malfoy. For using offensive spell and attempting to commit murder you are to be executed. Immediately. Take him away."

The two guards dragged a kicking and screaming Malfoy from the room.

"Well, it appears that the Malfoy family will be losing its Head in just a matter of minutes. I believe that you have a claim on that family also. Would you like me to notify the Malfoy account manager to start the claim process on your behalf?"

"It would be the perfect end to this mess." The Assessor laughed.

"Yes. Let their money be used to help instead of hurt for a change." Harry said.

"Excellent. I will have him bring the appropriate documents, account summaries, and transaction histories to you as soon as possible. Would there be anything else?"

"If you could place a freeze on all access to the vaults, and money transfers until I have a chance to examine them and an audit of the vault contents would also be nice, I imagine that there would be a number of dark artefacts in those vaults that will need to be dealt with correctly."

"I will request an initial inspection and provide a quote for a full inspection and disposal."

"Thank you." Harry said gratefully.

"Hold on just a minute." Daniel Granger had finally gotten over his shock and caught up on events. "That boy is going to be killed and you are already discussing when to do with his belongings. That is sickening. He is going to be killed and you don't seem to care. Aren't you going to do anything about it?"

"He committed the offence in goblin sovereign territory. There is nothing I can do. The goblins have total legal authority here." Amelia said sadly. "If I were to even try the repercussions could be tragic. A new goblin war? In the midst of the war with you-know-who? Not something I would want to risk protecting an attempted murderer."

"Attempted Murderer?" Daniel was surprised.

"Dad, the curse used was the killing curse. It is one of the three Unforgivable curses. If the goblins handed Malfoy over to the Ministry he would have thrown into Azkaban for the rest of his life. He would still have lost his family title." Hermione answered quietly.

"And if he ended up in Azkaban then he would have ended up with Voldemort as soon as he was broken out. And, assuming that Voldemort didn't kill him, he would be out torturing and killing people like you and Hermione, simply because you exist." Harry continued. "I am sorry that he is going to die, but I am not going to sacrifice you or Hermione or anyone else he might hurt to protect him. His family has done enough damage already, to your family as well as others."

"What has his family done to mine, except be insulting?" Daniel was not yet convinced but it was obvious his objections were waning.

"His father was behind what happened in my second year." Hermione answered. "He almost got several people, including myself, Harry and Ginny, killed."

"We should just pull you out of Hogwarts. It's too dangerous."

"It would be more dangerous to do that." Harry contradicted him. "They know who she is. She is a target simply because she exists. She will be safer learning as much as possible to protect herself."

"And I promised Harry I would help him. I am not going to break that promise. Even if Harry offer's me a way out, I won't take it. I have a chance to do something great that could improve the world, and more importantly, protect the people I love. Let me make my own decisions and trust me to make the right ones." Hermione finished.

"I don't like this." Daniel stated. "I really don't like this."

"None of us do, Mr Granger. Me especially. I would like nothing better to be home with my parents right now, laughing over the funny things that happened at school." Harry said sadly then his voice hardened. "I lost out of that chance fifteen years ago. I will not let that happen to other families if there is anything I can do to stop it."

"Okay. I don't like but you are right. No parent likes to see their child in danger and your parents would agree with me on that. How can I help?" Daniel's eyes had tears showing slightly.

Hermione flung herself into her father's arms. Her mother joined them in family hug.

When they broke up Harry answered his best friend's father. "I don't know but you may have knowledge of things from the muggle world that could be useful. Anything that could help protect people is worth looking at."

"I will start my research ASAP." Daniel nodded to Harry.

"I will help too." Emily added. "Hermione didn't get all her intelligence from her father."

Hermione looked at her parents proudly. "Well Harry. The Granger family is on the case. You-know-who can kiss his arse goodbye."

"Language, Hermione." Harry teased.

Hermione huffed at him.

"This has been an epic afternoon." The Assessor broke the silence. "But it is nearly dinner time and I believe that we could all use some time to assimilate the events of today. Perhaps if Hooksnarl can provide a summary of what is to occur, we can take the evening and tomorrow morning to mull and reconvene tomorrow afternoon?"

"An excellent suggestion." Hooksnarl agreed. "If there are no objections? No. Very well. Harry is to be emancipated and can claim the Potter family account immediately, I believe we can wrap that up before we leave, and he is also claiming the Black, Malfoy, and Lestrange family accounts. We have the warding of several families: Potter, Granger, Bones, Abbott, Greengrass, Weasley, Davis, Lovegood, Patel and Longbottom, and the basilisk skeleton to turn into a guardian. There are the donations to the DMLE, St Mungo's and the warding fund totalling 2.2 million galleons. I believe that the account summaries and transaction histories for the last twenty years and the account access and transaction freeze's were the last items."

"Excellent. Thank you, Hooksnarl. Listed like that it doesn't sound like we have achieved that much given how long we have been here." Harry commented.

"The quality of the experience has made it worthwhile." The Assessor stood. "Perhaps it is just as well you have eight wives, you have seven family Heads and will require heirs to be allocated between them. I would suggest you summon your sword and I would like to visit once your guardian is operational, to see it action."

"You are more than welcome to visit, but how do I summon the sword?" Harry was confused.

"Don't they teach you anything of goblins and their culture at that school of yours?"

"Only the revolution's, in the most boring fashion possible."

The Assessor gave him a toothy grin. "You will have to do something about that at some point. Simply focus on the sword. The look, the weight and feel of it in your hand. Then, when you have every detail fixed in your mind, reach out to it with your magic and call it to you."

Harry did as he instructed. Holding his hand in front of him as if he was holding it already and closing his eyes and focusing on every detail he could remember about the sword. Calling for it through his magic he felt a surge and the sudden cold weight in his hands. Surprised, he fumbled a little but managed to hold on to it.

"Magnificent. You truly are a Master Warrior. You might want a scabbard for it though, I'm sure that Hooksnarl can oblige you."

"Thank you but I would feel more worthy of that title if I actually knew how to use it." Harry replied. "Do you know of a suitable instructor?"

The Assessor laughed. "You know, I might just teach you myself. I will join you tomorrow. Say 1pm?"

"I think I can manage that. Thank you." Harry bowed.

"Not at all. This afternoon has been the most fun I've had in years." The Assessor left the room still chuckling.

Harry kept watching even after the door closed. "I don't mean to be rude but why is he so important?"

"The position he holds is important in its own right, which is why he is addressed by his title not his name, it is the position he held prior that earned him the respect he deserves. He was a Master Warrior himself."

"He was? I didn't realise."

"His skills matched those of some of our legendary warriors of the past. Many goblin warriors try to prove themselves worthy of his tutelage. For him to accept you as a student is a huge complement. I trust you will not disappoint him." Hooksnarl answered.

"If I do it will not be due to lack of effort." Harry replied firmly.

"That it all that can be expected. Now, I have some documents for you to sign so you can take up the position of Head of the Potter family."

Harry nodded and moved over to the desk and began signing where indicated. When he was finished Hooksnarl handed over a small box. The box contained three rings.

"The Head ring, the Lady's ring for whoever you choose as Lady Potter, and the Heir ring. You should put the Head ring on now." Hooksnarl indicated each ring as he spoke.

"Congratulations, Lord Potter. Now you just need to pick your Lady Potter and start producing an heir."

"No rush for that is there?"

"No, but you have five wives who would all be eligible. You should be aware that Miss Granger is not eligible to act as the Lady for the Black, Lestrange or Malfoy families. Those families require a pure-blood. They also require a male heir. The Potter family does not in either regard."

"Can I change that? Can I change the family name for that matter?"

"Yes but only to a limited extent. You cannot alter the pure-blood requirement for your Lady but you can for the next generation, you could also name the eldest child, regardless of gender as the heir. To replace the family name you will need to hyphenate the two names for your Lady and the undesired one can be dropped by the heir."

"Cool. The Malfoy and Lestrange families destroyed in two generations. That's my good deed for today."

"Here are the Potter family summaries. I will see you tomorrow. If we come to you at about 3pm; that should give you enough time to train. We should have the transaction records you require by then."

"Thank you Hooksnarl. And thank you too Tapstone. I will see you tomorrow." Harry bowed to each of the goblins.

"Good day to you too, Harry. You should expect a team of warders by 9am tomorrow." Tapstone bowed and left.

"You should think of a release schedule for your donations and the warding fund. I am sure Madam Bones can assist you with that. This has been an entertaining afternoon. I look forward to continuing it tomorrow." Hooksnarl bowed to Harry.

Harry and company finally left and headed back to Diagon Alley in silence. Too many changes had occurred to want to speak just yet.

As they entered the Leaky Cauldron, Amelia turned to the others. "May I treat everyone to dinner? We can discuss what just happened after dinner when we have had time to digest it a little."

"Thank you, Madam Bones. That would be wonderful." Daniel answered.

Getting a private room from Tom they had dinner in silence. When they had finished Amelia motioned Harry to join her in a quiet corner.

"Harry, I need your take on the events in the Department of Mysteries, why you were there, why you-know-who is after you. I know this will be hard but I need to know."

"Okay." Harry took a deep breath and started his story.

When he had finished Amelia nodded. "I believe you shared the prophecy with Susan and the others?"

Harry nodded.

"Don't tell anyone else. If you-know-who learns that you are the only one who can beat him he will attack in full force. We need time to prepare."

"I know. Fudge wasted a year, while Umbridge made sure the students were vulnerable and tortured them for fun."

"Can you prove that? He put so much backing behind her that she could take him down if she is convicted of something like that. Fudge is on his way out but he is stalling. Something like this could kick start everything." Amelia spoke excitedly.

Harry held out his hand to show the scars. "She forced me to write lies with a quill that did this to me. She threatened to use the Cruciatus curse saying that Fudge would understand. She also confessed to sending the Dementor's after me last summer."

"Ooh. We have her. Thank you Harry. You have just made my week. I've never really liked her."

They returned to the others.

"Well that has been dealt with, thank you again Harry. What's next?" Amelia was surprisingly cheerful.

"Perhaps we could discuss Harry's eight wives and how my daughter is one of them" Daniel suggested.

"We swore an oath to Harry to help him beat you-know-who. We didn't know that we would end up married to him." Hermione replied. "Not that that would have really changed things, the oath was necessary."

"There are political ramifications to consider as well." Amelia said. "With being the Head of four influential families as well as his own political capital, which will go through the roof when today's events are announced, he is essentially the leader of the wizarding world. With the strength of public opinion behind him, no one will willingly challenge him in the political arena. When he beats you-know-who then he will effectively be the next Merlin. He could truly make the wizarding a better place. May be then it will be harder for a new Dark Lord to make an appearance and the wizarding world can avoid wiping itself out."

"Is it really that bad?" Daniel asked. "I'm sorry but it sounds like the majority of the wizarding population are a bunch of ninnies. Placing all their hopes in one child instead of working together to solve it themselves."

"To a certain extent you are correct. One of the improvements Harry could make would be to improve how our children are educated. So that they think better, not so stuck in tradition." Amelia replied.

"Dad, one thing you need to understand is that the majority of the wizarding world in stuck in the middle ages. They may have beaten muggle world to that point but they were left behind a long time ago. The problem is that they only think about getting there first. They simple don't realise or ignore that they have been left in the dust." Hermione explained.

"Is it really that different?" Daniel asked.

"Here is a good example." Amelia added. "I am at least partially aware of the differences between the two worlds. Marriage is one of them. I am sure that you are aware of how marriage was treated between noble families in the middle ages."

"Yes. They were for political reasons to advance the families status rather than for emotional reasons." Daniel replied.

"Exactly. That is still in effect today in the wizarding world. You may have noticed that I have not been particularly critical of Susan for getting herself married? That is because politically the Bones family will benefit from the arrangement. Especially since it provide the opportunity for Susan to continue the family name. If she doesn't then the Bones family will cease to exist. The entirety of the Bones family is in this room. Same with the Potter family. Most of the noble families are dying out. Many disappeared in earlier wars. This one will claim more if it is not ended soon. You saw the demise of two families today. When Harry takes control of the Malfoy and Lestrange families he said he will change their name, removing them from all but the history books." Amelia paused. "On a personal level I will leave the decision to Susan and Harry as to whether this accidental match to suitable for them."

"How does Hermione fit into this?" Emily asked.

"She can continue one of the family lines that Harry now, or will soon control. Since one person can only have one vote in the Wizengamot, Harry would benefit by keeping the lines separate and appointing proxies to represent each family from one of the families he has married into. At least until that wife has graduated and has the time to use the seat personally."

"I am still not certain I like the idea? How do multiple wives work in the wizarding world? It's illegal in the muggle one." Daniel asked.

"It's is not illegal but it is not common. Not any more at least with the population dropping the way it has. The benefit to Hermione is that she will have a large voice, particularly with Harry backing her. From what Susan has told me, she has a lot of good things to say."

"Couldn't Harry give her that voice and backing without being married to her?"

"Yes but it would not be as strong."

"There is also one thing you have either forgotten or are avoiding." Hermione said looking her father in the eye.

"Yes?"

"You love mum, right? She is the right person for you?"

Daniel nodded.

"Even though there are a few things that she says or does that annoy you?"

Daniel nodded again. "Not that many things but some. Sorry dear. Feel free to point out my flaws as well."

"That was going to be my next point." Hermione grinned. "But you still love her despite that? She is still the right choice for you?"

"Of course." Daniel thought he could see where this was going and didn't like it.

"So despite all of the problems. A Dark Lord, fickle public opinion, half a dozen other wives, a rather nasty temper at times. Despite all that, what if Harry was still the right person for me?"

Daniel growled in frustration. "But you can't be sure? Not yet. You are still young, still developing your adult identity. You can't make that choice just yet, you don't know it would be the same one you would make in three or four years time." He argued.

"One year, two at the most, dad. Wizards mature faster and this whole situation has a maturing effect on people. But you are right, I don't know for sure yet. I do know that I want to find out if we can have something. I am not going to give up my chance of being with the person who makes me the happiest just because you don't like that I will have to share him."

"What about the Dark Lord after him? I don't want to lose you."

"You want to have that discussion with Grandma Helga? Besides, I'm already a target." Hermione countered.

"This is why I didn't want her to go to boarding school." Daniel said to his wife.

"Because she might begin thinking the bigamy isn't so bad? Or because she would decide to put herself in the direct line of fire of the wizarding equivalent of the Anti-Christ?" Emily replied.

"No. Because she has learnt how to out argue me without me realising it." Daniel turned to Harry. "I hope you realise how lucky you are to have her as a friend. If you hurt her..."

"You will have my permission to do whatever you want to what little would remain of me after Hermione and the other girls got through with me. If they leave anything at all that is." Harry interrupted. "Yes. I do know how lucky I am. I've known for nearly five years, and as much as I wish I could guarantee you that I will never hurt her, I can promise that it will not be on purpose."

"Harry, it appears as though you are a very special person. That is the only way you could inspire such devotion in my daughter. I hope I get to see that side of you so I can understand why my daughter is willing to put herself through so much for you." Daniel said.

He then stood and walked over to Harry and held out his hand. "Welcome to the family."

Harry stood slowly and shook Daniel's hand. "Thank you sir." He struggled to reply, his eyes moistening, his voice thick with emotion. "Thank you very much."

"Okay, what's next?" Harry tried to regain control of himself and his emotions.

"Releasing the information about your donations." Amelia spoke up. "When and how?"

"Soon I think." Harry replied. "But I need for Tapstone to finish his warding. Firstly to protect my friends as they will be the first targets for reprisals and secondly so he has more people to do the warding of the families taking advantage of the fund."

"Agreed. You-know-who will not like that. He seems to be quiet at the moment; we may have a small window of opportunity to get this done before his is active again." Amelia added.

"Why would he have gone quiet?" Daniel asked.

"I think fighting both Dumbledore at the Ministry and then his failed possession of me weakened him. The next morning he made another attempt on me, I think to try and steal some of my power but I think he left a piece of himself in me when he failed to kill me the first time and was trying to retrieve it. He failed and it is possible he has pushed himself too far." Harry replied in thought.

"That is entirely possible." Hermione agreed. "As powerful as He is, He his has limits. If he searched for that potion rather than resting then He may have used potions to boost his power for the attack on Harry. That is effective in the short term but there is a huge price to pay. We may still have a couple of days or even a week depending on how much of a fight Harry put up. Add to that the fact that He would refuse to look weak to his followers, he could refuse to ask for help recovering, slowing him even more."

"So if we are quick, we could have most families and the major wizarding areas protected before He is able to stop us." Susan commented.

"Yes. But it is only a stop gap measure. We can get His marked Death Eaters at first. When He realises what is happening He will change his tactics and we will have to adapt. The best case scenario is that we stop him first. Failing that, if we can delay him long enough build up the DMLE staff to counter him, we break the advantage He gained by Fudge holding us back." Amelia replied.

Harry nodded. "Can we boost your number using external help? Other Ministries? Could the muggle government help?"

"Possibly. The big issue is that the British Ministry will not want to ask any foreign Ministries for help. They would see it as beneath them. The muggle government may be useful if we can find a way to make them effective. We couldn't go public with it though."

"I know. We will think on it. Maybe there is a solution we can come up with." Harry replied.

"Remember that muggles are vulnerable to magic in your planning." Amelia said sternly.

"I know."

"So announcements." Hermione said.

"Our wards first. Then St Mungo's and Warding fund then DMLE donation. I would like the St Mungo's and Warding fund announced by the end of the week hopefully. The DMLE donation early next week." Harry replied thoughtfully.

"That sounds like a good plan." Amelia commented. "Next I think we should discuss Minister Fudge."

"Why?" Daniel asked.

"Because as much as he is stalling, he knows he is on the way out. The next person has to lead the Ministry has to lead through a war. There are very few in the Ministry who could. I can't think of any at the level that would be considered as a potential candidate. The most important thing is to prevent a supporter of you-know-who getting elected. Harry can help there. If he was to endorse someone they would be guaranteed victory."

"I agree. There is someone I think has a real chance to be elected who would be a perfect choice." Harry smiled at Amelia.

"Really, who?" Amelia paused. "No. Don't you dare! I don't want the job."

"I'm sorry but that is another point in your favour. You will do the job instead of trying to keep it." Harry said.

"Who will look after the DMLE donation?"

"Put your plan in place this week and pick someone you trust to keep it going. As Minister you can effect real change. You can remove the corruption and prejudice that has been plaguing the Ministry for generations." Harry persuaded.

"You make a good argument. Let me think on it. Amelia sighed.

"Thank you." Harry said sincerely. "And thanks for not hexing me."

"You're not out of the woods yet young man, lady, whatever." Amelia scolded. "You should know that a husband is expected to look after and provide for his wife, wives."

"Okay, remind me to ask Hooksnarl to get some money out for me and convert some to muggle money. Hermione, do you think that fifty thousand galleons would give enough muggle money for our shopping trip this weekend."

Hermione gaped. "I would think so. You could buy entire wardrobes for each of us. Including some top label items. What should I get?" Hermione mused.

"Hermione." Emily scolded.

"It's okay, Mrs Granger. The more she thinks about her own wardrobe that less chance she has to torture me." Harry grinned.

"Don't bet on it Harry." Hermione shot back.

The others laughed at the two Gryffindors.

"Madam Bones?" Harry ignored the laughed. "Two things I would like to know. Can I get a permit or something to use magic over the summer, and what are the rules around owning more than one wand?"

"Now that you are emancipated and a Head of family you are automatically allowed to use magic as an adult and so are all your wives. I will talk with the Improper Use of Magic office and let them know about your new situation and to keep it quiet. Regarding the second wand, it is a criminal offence to have an unregistered wand. But you should be aware that a family wand is not considered an unregistered wand. Owning multiple registered wands is frowned on and a permit is required. Only high risk professions would be given a permit."

"Considering my current profession would be 'Fighting Voldemort' is that considered high-risk enough?" Harry smiled, but with little humour.

"I believe so. I will have permit issued that will permit you up to four wands each."

"Isn't that a little overkill? Who would need that many?" Hermione questioned.

"Alastair Moody" Harry and Amelia replied in unison. They grinned at each other.

"Actually, all Auror's carry two. Senior Auror's are permitted up to four. They only tend to carry the maximum on missions, both for themselves and in case a team member required another." Amelia explained.

"That makes sense." Hermione agreed.

"Now. About this shopping trip you have mentioned." Amelia started.

"We aren't going to have to cancel it are we?" Harry asked. His expression made it unclear whether he would consider the cancellation a bad thing.

"No, but I will provide an Auror escort and vehicles. Are there any Auror's you would prefer to accompany you?"

Harry thought for a minute. "I don't know any who would fit in other than Tonks. Actually I will need to talk to her anyway."

"What about?" Susan asked surprised.

"She's a Black. At least her mother was before she married someone 'inappropriate' and was cast out of the family." Harry explained.

"You are going to reinstate them." Hermione nodded. "That's nice of you."

"It's the least I can do. I don't want to destroy the family like the Malfoy and Lestrange families because of Sirius, but I do want to improve its image."

"Is it going to be okay with how close to Dumbledore she is?"

"It had better be but once the wards are up there will be nothing he can really do about it."

"I will assign you VIW status. They will not be permitted to tell anyone who they were escorting or any locations you visit including your residence. If they do they will be punished or even fired. It will be a good test of loyalty." Amelia stated.

"VIW? Very Important... Wizard?" Emily asked.

Amelia nodded.

"Thank you. I'm sorry that you feel you need to." Harry looked down cast.

"It's not your fault. This situation is going to bring out the best and worst of everyone. Sometimes it will be both out of the same person at the same time." Amelia reassured Harry.

"I'm not sure that makes me feel much better."

"That's because you are a good person. You don't like the shadows and intrigue required in politics."

"I guess I'm going to learn though."

"Sorry about that."

"How do you think I should handle the whole wives situation?"

"Personally I wouldn't have a clue. You and your wives will have to work that out for yourselves. Politically, you have four families, each of whom can have their Lady, with will provide you the backing of those families. Especially since you are willing to allow them to carry on their own name with the title. You have my backing already so you just need the Greengrass's and the Patel's. The Lord Greengrass may be willing to back you due to your political power, although he prefers to stay neutral. Lord Patel is originally from India and while titled is not a member of the Wizengamot. There are a number of empty seats from families that have died out. You could sponsor him to one of those to get his backing. You may need more than that, probably money or business, but it will give you an edge."

"Should I even consider using them like that?" Harry looked disappointed in himself.

"Talk to them about it. If they are okay with it them you won't have a problem. If not then don't." Hermione said. "I know it may feel wrong but as long as nobody is forced or coerced and they know what they are doing and why and agree then you are not doing anything wrong."

"What happens if I end up with eight wives for the rest of my life, would you either of you be okay with that?"

Hermione and Susan exchanged a glance. Susan shrugged.

Hermione turned back to Harry. "I think by that point we would have worked everything out. Besides, it would only be seven. Luna is interested in Neville. I think she really just wants, and maybe needs, you as a sibling."

"That is actually a little reassuring." Harry gave a small smile.

"Harry." Daniel spoke quietly. "It is to your credit that you are concerned about how you wives will feel. If you hold on to that always and listen to them and be honest with them about your feelings and concerns, I believe that you will all be able to find a solution to this that you can all agree to."

Both Harry and Hermione looked at him in surprise.

"What? I don't like the idea of my daughter being married to a man that has a harem anymore than any other father would but I can see that you will treat her better than most men so I get some comfort at least. But I you ever hurt her..."

"You can do whatever you want to the little bits of me that Hermione leaves. I can promise you that I will do everything in my power to protect her. And you, and everyone else."

Daniel laughed. "A bit of a terror is she?"

"Brilliant and scary at the same time. I would change a thing."

"I trust that was a compliment, Mr Potter." Hermione said sternly, glaring at him.

"Yes, Miss Granger is most certainly was." Harry replied properly, then looked at the others. "I value my life too much for it to be anything else."

Hermione huffed while the others laughed, but soon joined in.

"We should be going soon." Emily said when the laughter died down.

"Yes it is getting late and I will need an early start tomorrow." Amelia agreed. "I will see you tomorrow at 9am. Will I need to bring Susan?"

"Umm. Does Susan want to come?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Susan would like to come, but Susan will not have time and will have to wait until the weekend." Susan replied.

"We will see you then. I'll owl you when we have a time to meet at Hermione's." Harry grinned at her.

"Thanks. See you then." Susan stood.

Amelia followed suit bidding the Granger's and Harry farewell before the two Bones left.

"And that is our cue to leave also." Daniel rose and offered a hand to his wife.

Harry mimicked his actions to Hermione.

The Granger family and guest left the pub, returning to their car for the journey home.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

Once again I have to give my thanks to all my reviewers. I have received a lot of positive feedback and I am very grateful for it. I have also received some wonderful suggestions to improve my story that I will be endeavouring to incorporate. Thanks everyone, keep it coming.

I must apologise for the delay in posting this chapter. I have been a little distracted by another story that has caught my attention. The idea came to me and I ran with it. I have nearly finished the first draft and will be posting the first chapter once I polish it up a bit.

I have also been caught up in the current medical crisis. The company I work for has been providing some support to a ministry department to support the management of treatment in the event of things getting much worse. It's been taking a bit of time given the tight deadlines.

But all other things aside, here is the latest instalment for your reading pleasure.

**Chapter 7**

Hermione was an early riser at school. That didn't change at home as she joined her parents for breakfast before they left for work.

"Are you okay?" Daniel asked her in a concerned voice as she joined them at the small wooden table that sat at one side of the modern kitchen. "After everything that happened yesterday?"

"Yes. Shocked, a little confused, and a bit unsure but I'm okay." Hermione still looked a little tired as she reached for the cereal.

"Even with being married to a man, who is currently a woman, and who has seven other wives?"

"Either I love him enough to accept that or I don't. Right now it doesn't matter. We will work something out when something needs to be worked out. It's not as if I hadn't considered it, thanks to Daphne." Hermione finished in a mutter.

"Oh?" Emily was close enough to make out her daughters muttering.

"She was going on about how she might have a marriage contract with him and that she might be willing to share him with Ginny at first." Hermione blushed. "Then she offered him to me."

"And that got you thinking?" Emily asked with a slight grin.

Hermione nodded. "Especially after the night before we left. He had a bit of a break down, but he finally told me and Ginny something about his life at his aunt and uncle's. You would not believe how bad it was."

"What happened?"

"He grew up in a cupboard!" Hermione burst out sobbing. "No love. No friends. He was punished for being a better student than his cousin who redefines the word idiot."

Daniel and Emily gripped their daughter in a strong hug, feeling her grab at them also.

"I love you, mum, dad. I'm so glad you are my parents." Hermione mumbled when she had calmed down, swiping her face on her sleeves.

"And we are glad we have such a compassionate daughter. It's a relief to know we did something right as parents." Emily replied wiping a tear from her own eye.

"I know you said he could only stay for a part of the summer but there is no way I will let him go back there." Hermione said fiercely.

"I agree." Emily replied. "Not that I think it will be an issue." She smiled at her daughter.

"Thanks. Anyway when he told us a couple of nights ago, it took Ginny and I ages to calm him down. We sort of made a pact yesterday on the train to help him learn how to love and be loved. And to help him find happiness." Hermione slumped a little. "Even if it is with someone else."

She shook her mood off. "He gives so much with little thought for himself. He has been like that ever since I've known him. He needs someone, or someone's, who will give the same back to him."

"I remember what you said about how he saved you from a troll in your first year." Daniel said.

"Yeah, huge, big, strong, ugly, smelly. Could've killed all of in a heartbeat. He didn't even hesitate. He just jumped on it. Stupid and crazy, but he saved my life. He did the same for Ginny the next year too."

"Is that when he killed that giant snake we saw?"

"Yes. That was a basilisk skull."

"Does it really have a stare that can turn people to stone?" Daniel asked.

"If you see it indirectly, like in a reflection. Directly it is lethal." Hermione said.

"So you have been nearly killed how many times at that school? The one that is supposed to be the safest place in England?" Daniel couldn't hide his worry.

"4 out of 5 years. Harry has gone 5 for 5. Normally it is not that dangerous. If you asked one of the other girls like Susan or Daphne you would get a zero though. Trouble just seems to hunt Harry down, and he just can't help but try and stop it."

"What about the teachers? Why don't they do anything?" Emily asked.

"They either don't believe us or are a part of the problem."

"I wish I could pull you out of there. I know I can't but..." Daniel's thought went unfinished as there was a tap at the window.

Looking over Hermione sprang out of her seat to open the window.

"Hello, Hedwig. Did you have a nice flight?" Hermione greeted the snowy owl.

Hedwig took a tight loop around the kitchen before settling on the back of an empty chair. Looking around she hooted cheerfully at Hermione.

"You remember my parents Daniel and Emily don't you?"

Hedwig nodded and looked around again.

"I think Harry is still asleep." Hermione guessed.

Hedwig hooted again and looked at the food on the table.

"I'm sorry we don't have anything for you right now. I know that Harry freshened up your cage and set out fresh food and water out for you last night. His room is upstairs, second on the left."

Hedwig hooted at her again and flitted out the door into the rest of the house.

Daniel and Emily followed the owl as far as the bottom of the stair as they saw her disappear up to the first floor.

A door opened.

"Hello Hedwig. Did you have a nice flight?" Harry's voice floated down the stairs.

Stern hoot.

"I'm sorry but it was noisy outside last night and I had to close the window so I could sleep."

Another stern hoot.

"It's not like you were actually waiting. You would have been tapping on the window up here instead of downstairs at the kitchen window. You're just annoyed that Hermione couldn't feed you. Oww!"

A very stern hoot.

"Okay, I'm sorry but I got your cage ready for you last night. I even put a few treats out for you."

A much friendlier hoot.

"Now you're happy. I'll open the window for you. Have a nice rest."

Movement sounded as Harry left the guest room for the bathroom.

Daniel and Emily turned to find Hermione standing behind them grinning.

"He's always been like that with Hedwig. It's amazing to watch. I just though I'd try and see how she responded." Hermione said as they returned to the kitchen.

"She responded just fine from what I saw." Daniel commented.

"Yes. Quite a thrill actually." Hermione smiled happily.

"You know, I think..." Emily started.

She was interrupted by the door bell sounding.

"That I will answer the door. Who could be visiting at this hour?" She wondered.

"I don't know. I would say Madam Bones or Tapstone but it's only 8:15, way too early. If they say 9am then expect a knock at 9am to the second."

Whatever Emily Granger was expecting it most definitely not the tear streaked face and messy red hair of the youngest Weasley.

!HPEaSE!

Ginny was not having the morning she had hoped. Her arrival home last night had been okay, her parents and the twins were disappointed that they had missed Harry. Ron on the other hand had just grumped.

Ginny just hoped that Harry had gotten away with Hermione cleanly. She knew that they had hoped to meet up with Madam Bones. Hopefully that would have helped.

She was having very pleasant dream when she was woken, far too early, by Molly Weasley coming to collect the dirty clothes for the laundry.

"Just collecting clothes for the wash, dear"

"Over there and in the top of my trunk." Ginny mumbled, with a vague wave before rolling over and trying to return to her dream, burrowing into her sheets.

She heard her trunk open and clothes rustle.

"What are these, young lady?" Molly's voice sounded.

Still half asleep, Ginny missed the warning in her mother's voice as she rolled back briefly to look. It took her a few seconds to focus but she recognised the first set underwear Hermione had given her. She had found them very comfortable once she had gotten used to the back sitting between her cheeks instead of covering them.

"Panties." Was her bleary reply.

She tried to roll back but she was hit full force by a Molly Weasley rant at full volume. It woke her as quickly as if she had been drenched in ice water.

"And WHERE did you get these disgusting things? You didn't waste your father's hard earned money on them I hope."

"They were a gift from..." Ginny started but was quickly shouted over.

"From some brazen hussy I expect. I don't know where I went wrong with you. I try to raise a respectable daughter but have ended up with someone who seems to insist on dressing and acting like a whore. I refuse to have such behaviour under my roof. You will act like a proper lady and not some scarlet woman! You are not to see that hussy again. EVER!"

Ginny snapped. She rolled out of bed and tore her clothes, including the offending article from her mother's grip. Throwing everything in her trunk except her school robe and cloak the slammed her trunk, pulled the robe and cloak on and stuffed her bare feet into her shoes as she grabbed her wand from the nightstand.

A quick lightening charm later and she was dragging the trunk out of the room and down the stairs.

"Where do you think you are going?"

"Somewhere that I won't be under your roof." Ginny snapped back.

"I don't know what I did to deserve such a wilful, disobedient daughter. I had thought your friendship with Hermione might have calmed you down a bit, shown you how a proper young lady should act. But no, you throw off even that good example. Are you trying to destroy your life?"

"Right now I'm trying to save it."

"I doubt that. You know that Harry will never look at you as a potential wife if you keep acting like this."

"You know nothing about Harry. A wife is the last thing he needs at the moment. I will be what he needs right now and worry about later when I need to." Ginny was nearly at the door by now.

"So you are already a whore? Why couldn't you have been more like Hermione? There is a girl who will make a nice daughter-in-law. So are you going to stay with the slut that gave you those abominable things?"

Ginny paused in the now open doorway and smiled sweetly at her mother. "Yes actually. I'm sure Hermione would like to know what you think of her and her taste in lingerie."

Ginny slammed the door behind her and ran as best she could to the end of the drive. Her trunk was lightened but still awkward due to its size.

Reaching the road, she pulled her wand and raised it to summon the Knight bus. Stan didn't even get a chance to start his greeting speech before she was pushing past him. Pulling out her money pouch, she prayed to Merlin that she had enough money. She did, barely. She sat looking at the one silver and two bronze coins she had left."

"Where to kid?" Stan asked.

Ginny had to rack her brains for a minute until she remembered the street name and area where Hermione lived. She settled back in her seat. The anger that had kept her going was starting to ebb and she could feel her eyes wanting to tear.

Ginny gritted her teeth. She refused to cry. It wouldn't help. Getting off the bus at the start of Hermione's street she started off in a determined march pulling her trunk. But the feelings she had been holding back since she had gotten on the bus were relentless and she could feel tears begin tracking down her cheeks. She refused to acknowledge them and kept going, but the closer she got to her destination the harder it got. She was sobbing by the time she reached Hermione's driveway. Her body was heaving under the strain of the crying as she took four attempts to push the button for the doorbell.

Ginny could barely recognise Hermione's mother through her tears. "Is Hermione here, please?" She stumbled through her words.

"Yes, come in." Emily replied. "Hermione." She called.

Hermione walked out of the kitchen. "Yes, mum? Who was at... Ginny?"

Ginny saw Hermione and lost the last vestiges' of control as she dropped her trunk and ran to Hermione tripping and falling on her knees at Hermione's feet. Grabbing her legs and burying her face into them Ginny just bawled.

Hermione dropped to her own knees and wrapped Ginny in a hug. Looking up at her mother in shock she wordlessly tried to ask what to do. Her mother just smiled sadly there was nothing more they could do until Ginny cried herself out.

"Come on dear lets go into the kitchen. There are some tissues there so you can clean yourself up a bit." Emily said when the sobs eased.

Ginny nodded and followed Hermione.

Hermione looked around, wondering where her father had gone. Looking at her mother she indicated the stairs with a nod of her head. She had seen him sneak past. He knew when he should be somewhere else.

Ginny sat staring at the table as close to Hermione as possible. The tissue box only received a blank look to start off with before she grabbed a couple to wipe her eyes and blow her nose.

"What happened, Ginny?" Hermione asked gently.

"Had a fight with mum." Slowly the story of her morning spilled out. Ginny was sniffing and eye tearing again when she finished. A firm hug from Hermione helped her stave them off with a few more sniffs.

"I'm sorry Hermione." Ginny mumbled.

"What for? It sounds like it was my underwear that got you in trouble." Hermione queried.

"I think I got you in trouble with mum. I told her it was you that had given it to me."

"Oh well. The Weasley I would have wanted to visit is here so we'll be fine."

"I can't believe that she would go off on her own daughter like that over a pair of panties." Emily turned to her own daughter. "Still, what are you doing giving you underwear away?"

"I had outgrown it. I figured it would be about her size. Harry has a couple of things of mine as well. Enlarged of course."

"Generous of you."

"It's not like I could wear them anymore. Muggle clothing doesn't take magic that well. Harry's tuff is only temporary until we can go shopping."

"Fair enough then."

"Is Harry here?" Ginny asked.

"Yes. He's upstairs. Probably with dad waiting for us to let them know it's okay to come down. He's probably starving." Hermione giggled.

"So am I actually." Ginny said in a small voice.

"Get her something to eat, Hermione. I'll let those two know that they can come down." Emily chuckled.

!HPEaSE!

Harry was leaving his room when Daniel came up the stairs. Her could hear some sobbing downstairs and wondered what was wrong but Daniel stopped him when he headed to the stairs.

"The Weasley, I think, girl just showed up in a right state. You might just want to wait a little before heading down."

"Ginny? Red-headed girl?"

Daniel nodded.

"Well, if she is upset should I go and help?"

"Sometimes that is the right thing to do, and sometimes it isn't. It can be really hard to know the difference between the two situations. I'm pretty sure that this is a women only situation. But if I'm wrong, you get to blame me." Daniel grinned.

"Trust me, I will. I wouldn't want both Hermione and Ginny angry at me."

"So, about this Quidditch pitch? Big sporting arena?"

"Yes. I love flying, and Quidditch, but mostly flying."

"Do you think they could make a bigger room?"

"I don't know. We could ask when they arrive. What do you want to build?"

"Promise not to share this?"

"Okay."

"A golf course. My own indoor golf course. Do you think we can?"

"I don't know but you will have to disguise it if you're trying to sneak it past Hermione, and I assume your wife as well."

"Let me think. You are basically going to war aren't you? So you will need a variety of environments to train in. Forests, sand, open areas, mountains may be, coastal, indoor areas. You could create a beach, golf course, sporting areas, ski field, who knows what else all in the name of training for the war. Do you think non-magical weapons would work? If so you will need a secure room to store them and a practice area to use them."

"That's absolutely brilliant." Harry stared past Daniel as he envisioned the potential of the idea. "I love it. I don't know about muggle weapons, I don't know enough about them. Do you have any information on this sort of thing I could use as a reference when talking to the goblins?"

"Yes actually, some at least. I'll dig them out now. I need to go soon so I will have to leave it in your hands."

"I'll do my best. It's the least I can do. I have practically taken over your home."

"Yes you have. But you have been nice about it and it is to protect us so sneak in my golf course and we will call it even."

"What about your wife?"

"The beach, ski field and remodelling the backyard? Hmmm... I think she will be fine. But don't tell her I said that."

"Done. Well, I'm going to take a shower, since they look to be taking a while."

"Enjoy."

Daniel had found the books and pamphlets and put them in Harry's room and was heading out the door to work when Emily stopped him.

"It's safe to come back into the kitchen now."

"Thanks, I need to go, I was worried I wouldn't get to say goodbye first."

"I know. I will see you at the office at 10:30. Love you."

"I love you too, honey."

"Where is Harry?"

"Shower, might be nearly finished by now though."

"Okay, thanks."

Emily headed up the stairs while Daniel stuck his head in the kitchen door.

"I'm off, See you kids at 2."

"Bye dad. Have a good day." Hermione replied.

Ginny forced herself to swallow a mouthful of cereal. "Goodbye Mr Granger."

"Thank you, Ginny? I hope you're feeling better."

"Yes sir. Thank you."

"See you." And with that Daniel was out the door and on his way to work.

"Don't your parents work at the same place?" Ginny asked Hermione.

"Yes, they have their own practice. They stagger their hours a bit during the summer when I'm home so they each get some time with me. There is also how many clients they have on a given day. Today mum will work from 10:30 till about 6 tonight while dad will be home by 2 this afternoon."

"How is Harry doing?" Ginny asked.

"Today, okay I think except when Hedwig smacked him or something. I haven't actually seen him but he sounded good from his conversation with Hedwig."

"And last night?"

"Drained and shocked. We were all suffering mental overload by the time we left Diagon Alley. We have a long story for you."

"Good or bad?"

"Mostly surprising and shocking. Nothing especially bad. There was even some really good stuff."

"So how are the newlyweds doing this morning?" Emily had returned.

"Mum." Hermione complained.

"Huh? What are you talking about? Who got married?" Ginny was confused.

"We did." Hermione replied. "That oath we made to Harry is actually a recognised form of marriage. It's not permanent thanks to the exit clause but until he releases us, all eight of us are considered his wives."

Ginny's jaw dropped as she stared at her older friend.

"The marriage can be made permanent by consummating our relationship with him." Hermione continued.

"That would be a little hard at the moment." Ginny mused.

"You're not upset?" Emily was surprised.

"Not really. I've spent about a decade fantasising about being Mrs Potter. I may not have a crush on the boy-who-lived anymore but my attraction to Harry is stronger than ever."

"So both of you are okay, surprised, but okay with being married to Harry?"

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other then nodded.

"Neither of you have dated him have you? That's a rather large jump." Emily questioned.

"It's not that we didn't want to date him." Hermione started.

"It's that we didn't understand Harry enough to go about it properly." Ginny finished.

"Explain." Emily commanded softly.

Hermione went first. "I didn't become his friend until I decided to act as if I was his friend after the troll incident. I liked him for what he did and he is just really nice so he's easy to like as a person. I showed it by trying to get him to look after himself properly and making sure he took his studies seriously. His grades may not show it but he is really smart. If he really put the effort in he could be challenging me across all the subjects not just beating me in DADA."

"I see. You nagged him and he didn't like it." Emily guessed.

"No." Hermione countered, flushing slightly. "He did like it. That was the problem. It was how he hoped his mother would treat him."

Emily gasped then started laughing, Ginny giggled as well. "Only you, Hermione." Emily managed between laughing. "Only you would lose an opportunity at the guy she like because he liked you mothering him too much to want it to stop."

"Yeah. My luck has taken an interesting turn since meeting Harry. Almost corkscrew like."

"So what's your story Ginny?" Emily asked when they had calmed down.

Ginny's good mood vanished. "The Chamber of Secrets. When I woke up after he saved me he was really sick. Dying really. He had been bitten by the basilisk and the poison was killing him quickly. I could see the life ebbing out of him as he told me to leave and not look back. After that I didn't think he would want me around. The silly little girl who also most killed him. He didn't seem to miss me, not his fault though since he didn't know me to miss me. Three years later I finally get the courage to try again. It takes me the whole year but I make progress." Ginny grinned ruefully. "And then he gets turned into a girl. I know how to be his friend now at least."

"Be whose friend? Good morning everyone. You doing okay, Ginny?" Harry asked as he came in, hair still damp from his shower.

"Good morning, I'm fine. I was talking about being your friend Harry. Come here and give me a hug, hubby." Ginny demanded.

"Hermione told you huh? You don't seem upset by it?" Harry commented as he obliged her with a brief hug.

"Nah. It's not your fault and it won't be permanent unless we want it to be." Ginny replied. "Now that you're here, tell me what happened last night."

"Later. We will have visitors soon." Harry replied as he helped himself to the cereal on the table.

"Who?"

"Madam Bones, Tapstone the Head goblin warder and his warding team and possibly some others." Hermione replied.

"Gosh. I still need to shower. I must look a right mess."

"Not really, Gin" Harry mumbled through his food. "But I'm sure you will feel better after a nice hot shower."

"Manners Harry, but thanks. Hermione, could you show me..." Ginny followed Hermione out of the room.

"Is she really okay?" Harry asked Emily after they had left.

"She'll be fine. She just had an upsetting morning."

"I'm glad. I don't like seeing my friends hurt." Harry turned back to his breakfast.

Emily rose to answer a knock at the door as she replied. "I got that impression last night."

Amelia Bones, Tapstone and another goblin were waiting patiently at the door. Amelia and Tapstone seemed to be having a conversation which he broke off as he saw Emily at the door.

"Good morning Mrs Granger." Tapstone greeted her cheerfully before she could speak. "I hope you don't mind. I thought it best that my warders got started immediately. Don't worry, no one else will notice a thing." He added as her saw her worried expression at the swarm of humans and goblins surveying the grounds. "Once the surveying is complete, you won't know we're here either."

"That's a relief. Good morning Tapstone, Madam Bones. And good morning to you too." She added to the unknown goblin. "Please come in."

"Thank you."

"Can I get you anything? Tea, coffee?"

"We are fine thank you."

The trio followed her into the kitchen where they greeted Harry.

"Good morning Master Warrior Potter. May I introduce Lictand, the Head of the Construction Department?"

"A pleasure to meet you, Lictand." Harry bowed.

"And you too Master Warrior." The goblin bowed back.

"Harry, please. You are actually just the goblin I wanted to talk to." Harry replied.

"So I have heard. I understand you want a wing added to this house that is hidden from muggle view and the backyard is to be remodelled."

"Yes. Hermione has a rough plan of the layout of the new wing to run by you but I have a few changes to make to it. Before we start I have a question."

"Please, ask away." The goblin spoke gruffly, with minimal respect.

Harry ignored it, it wasn't unexpected. "What are the limits you can apply to a room? How big can it be, how complex can the interior be?"

"How complex to you want it. I doubt you will stretch our capabilities."

"We have complex training requirements. I will need you to mimic a range of real world environments. Coastal, fields, forest, buildings, mountains, sand, snow. It all needs to be in one room because I will need to practice not just in the environments but across them."

Now the goblin seemed interested. "Maybe you will stretch our capabilities. I think I can help you though. I had thought you would just want a large space and maybe lots of rooms. You actually want a miniature world. I have had the idea to build indoor replicas of outdoor environments for some time but could never get the funding to do it."

"How much do you need?"

"A lot. Fifty thousand galleons?" Lictand looked nervous. "Are you willing to pay that?"

"Yes. I want to best. I think I can hear Hermione coming. We can discuss the whole layout first then we can get into details for this room."

"It will be my pleasure." Lictand had finally warmed up to Harry.

Tapstone nudged the other goblin and grinned at him.

Lictand spoke a few words in gobbledegook and Tapstone laughed.

Harry had heard Hermione coming down the stairs. She paused as she entered the kitchen, seeing the guests."

"Good morning Tapstone, Madam Bones. Good morning to you to..." She paused for an introduction.

"Good morning to you Miss Granger. This is Lictand, the Head of the Gringotts Construction Department." Tapstone introduced his colleague.

"A pleasure to meet you."

"Did you sketch anything out for the new wing?" Harry asked her.

"Yes actually. I'll just grab it, excuse me." She dashed off to her room.

She returned less than a minute later with a pad of paper and a pen.

"This is what I had in mind." She said as she put the pad on the table to show the goblin.

Quickly explaining what she wanted she turned to Harry, "Do you still want you Quidditch pitch or are you going to be responsible?"

"Definitely not responsible." Harry grinned. "I don't have any problems with the upstairs area, plenty of bedrooms for us and any guests, library, study, kitchen/living area, it all looks great. Downstairs, a swimming pool Hermione? Weren't you going to put one in the backyard?"

"Swimming is a good form of exercise." She replied. "And the weather outside might not always be suitable."

Harry grinned at her then turned back to the goblin. "There are a few changes I would like to suggest. I think we need an exercise room for weights and stuff, a large empty exercise room like a gymnasium, a room with an observation area for duelling and spell testing, a secure room for weapons storage, our special room which we will discuss later, that one replaces the Quidditch pitch, I like this room here which connects to the outside." Harry paused. "Maybe a couple of large empty rooms as spares for later if we can think of anything we missed. And I would like the entry room expanded. I want room for Sally the snake and several chairs and couches to conduct meetings."

"How about a potions lab? And if you expand the secure room to a general storage area we can keep rare and dangerous things like the basilisk parts. Why would you want to conduct meetings in the entry room?" Hermione queried.

"Potions lab? Yes. Add that. And I like the secure room expansion, thank you Hermione. As for the meetings. I was told that having Sally on display would make an impression on any visitors I had. I might as well take advantage of that. Besides if I like the guest that much I would take them to that lounge next door."

"Who is 'Sally'?" Lictand asked, confused.

"Sally the snake? She is a 57 foot basilisk skeleton that Tapstone was going to turn into a guardian to protect that room, since it links the magic part to the muggle part and has a floo connection."

"Why Sally though?" Hermione asked.

"Luna. Because of what she called Slytherin when she saw his statue." Harry replied.

"She will like that."

"Do you still want both spare rooms?" Lictand returned to business.

"Yes please."

"Okay. I think this is all okay. You will have to furnish everything yourself."

"That should keep a few people happy." Harry grinned.

"Was that a crack at women I just heard?" Hermione glared at Harry.

"Not at all." Harry grinned back.

Lictand smiled at the repartee. "Now, all that is left is your special room."

"What special room?" Hermione asked. "What are you trying to sneak in?"

"It's just a specialised training room to enable us to practice in a variety of environments." Harry replied.

"Should I believe you?"

"I'm not lying if that's what you are asking?"

"Okay, but this had better not be a way to sneak a play room in."

"Trust me. I think you'll like what I have in mind." Harry returned his attention to Lictand. "You have a brief overview of I what I was thinking. I would like you to accompany me to my room, there are a few specifics I would like to discuss. Sorry Hermione, but I want it to be a surprise."

"Okay, but you had better not disappoint me."

Harry just grinned.

"If I could have a word first, Harry?" Amelia asked.

"Umm. I have some materials to get Lictand started. If you let me show them to him, I'll be back in a minute."

"Alright. Thank you, Harry."

Harry led Lictand up to his room and showed him the small pile of books Daniel had left on his bed and explained the situation some more.

"I haven't had a chance to look through these yet, but if you get started we can work it out when I get back." He finished.

Lictand nodded. "Can you bring that pad and pen with you? I will need to make quite a few notes."

Harry nodded and left the goblin to his reading.

Returning to the kitchen he sat next to Amelia. Tapstone had left and was overseeing his warding team outside.

"How can I help you?"

"You're right." Amelia started.

"I am? That's a novelty. About what may I ask?"

"Needing a strong Minister, and soon. Amelia took a deep breath. "I'll do it. We need to plan this out properly. Fudge is blocking all attempts to oust him. I believe that if we can get Umbridge on trial we can sneak a vote of no confidence in. He has tied himself too closely to her in protecting her and supporting her actions at Hogwarts. If what you told me is true then we can arrest her and put her on trial."

"What can I do to help?"

"I need copies of your memories. I know I'm asking a huge amount but it is the fastest way of getting everything kick started."

"Not a problem. What ones do you want?"

"Just like that? Thank you Harry. I need the ministry ones and Umbridge's confession. I'll be by this afternoon with a Pensive. I'll collect them then. Try to think of any others you think maybe useful."

"Okay. I'll see you this afternoon then. If you come around 3:30 I will probably be the official Head of the other families so if there is anything I can do to help you in regards to them let me know."

"I will think on it. Thank you Harry. Bye."

"You're welcome. See you later."

Amelia Apparated out.

"Sorry Hermione, but I need to borrow your pad."

"That's alright. Get your special room right."

"Wow, I could barely detect any sarcasm."

"Shut up." Hermione retorted, smiling.

Harry laughed as he ran from the room.

Lictand looked up. "Good, you're back. And you brought the pad. Pass it here please."

Harry handed it over. Lictand grabbed it, turned it to a blank page and began sketching.

Watching in silence, Harry saw landscapes come to life under the pen driven by the excited goblin.

'What do you think?" Lictand asked finally.

Harry liked it and he said so. It was roughly a cube nearly two miles in each direction. Two sides were bordered in sandy beaches and water. The other two sides were massive snowy mountain ranges. In between were forests fields and rolling hills. A river began in a waterfall from the mountains into a small lake with an island in the middle and meandered through the middle of the area to the coast.

"This is a brilliant start. Now all we need are the specifics. Daniel wants a golf course and ski fields. I want my Quidditch pitch and some other sporting fields. Plus we need buildings to train in. I was thinking a couple of Manor's. If we include a large muggle school then we get a variety of building layouts, plus all the sports fields."

"Yes, that does roll several of your requirements into one. I was reading the material you indicated and learned a fair bit about golf courses. If we place the club house along this edge, it can be the room side of the entry. With storage area and observation areas it could be a 'safe' zone were you store everything you need to either train or play."

"Yes, that would mean that we loop the golf course around here near by the club house. These far areas can be a mix of forests, fields and the two Manor's which link a sand dune and the mountains. That will provide us the ability to practice cross zone combat."

"I will even include some goblin style tunnels in the mountains. As a Master Warrior you may be asked to assist if the Dark Lord attacks us. This will mean you can practice combat in an environment similar to the goblin tunnels we live in."

"Thank you. I wouldn't have thought of that."

"I think that is it unless you can think of anything else?"

"Umm... Yes. The whole extension will need to have muggle power and phone lines and allow muggle equipment to function properly. We may have some muggle weapons to train with so that needs to be taken into consideration, but I don't have any details for you I'm afraid. I would also like Apparition and Port-keys to function within the room." Harry added.

Lictand nodded. "Right... This room will be the last to be done of the extension. I will draw up proper plans and return later to get your approval. Just to be aware, you may need a house elf or two to maintain this area. If you do some serious training in it then there will be a lot of damage. A house elf can clean that up very efficiently."

"Thanks for telling me. I may know one or two who might be interested. If Hermione doesn't kill me for asking them."

"The misfortune of having strong wives." Lictand laughed at him.

"Maybe." Harry shrugged. "But I wouldn't change a thing about any of them."

"I will leave you to your wedded bliss then and get to work on finalising these plans. I must say Harry. This is going to be the most fun my team and I will have had in more years than I care to admit to."

Harry laughed and followed the goblin to the front door. The goblin rolled the paper with all the notes that he had torn off the pad into a tube and saluted Harry with it.  
"Goodbye Harry. I should be back this afternoon or this evening with the finalised plans and my construction team."

"Goodbye to you too. I am looking forward to seeing the result."

Harry closed the door behind him and return to the kitchen to find it empty. He looked around the ground floor and found the two girls in the lounge reading.

They were sitting together on one of two couches in the room with a couple of armchairs and coffee tables. The room had a warm feel, while retaining a certain elegance. The room made good use of space and the shelves and display cabinet showed trinkets of various origins.

Ginny immediately put her book down and looked at Harry expectantly.

"So what happened yesterday?" She finally demanded as Harry took his time settling.

"Do you want the long version or the short version?"

"Start me with the short version. Then we'll see."

"Okay. Umm, we went to Gringotts, sold the basilisk for just under five million galleons, spent about 3 million galleons, got promoted to the top of the goblin warrior caste, was nearly killed by Malfoy, he's dead now by the way, and I am the next Lord of the Black, Malfoy and Lestrange families. Oh and I am now the current head of the Potter family and I have eight wives, of which you are one."

Ginny just sat there in silence, her jaw had dropped around her metaphorical feet.

Hermione giggled. "You might want to explain it a little slower and with a little more detail."

"But that would be the long version. She's only asked about the short version so far." Harry argued.

"Right now she isn't capable of asking for a glass of water. You didn't need to be quiet so blunt."

"She had been waiting for so long I didn't want to keep her waiting any longer." Harry replied innocently.

"You made five mil... mill... million galleons. Head of families... HANG ON! Malfoy tried to kill you! What happened?" Ginny had finally snapped out of her daze.

"Malfoy had gotten himself emancipated and declared as the Head of the Malfoy family. He also tried claiming the Black family but Sirius had passed it on to me in his will. Once it was established that not only had Sirius not be convicted of any crimes since he hadn't had a trial, but that Malfoy had broken an Inheritance Law when he assisted in a attack that turned me into a girl, he had lost all claim on the Black family and the Lestrange family because of it. He then took a shot at me with a killing curse which I blocked using my chair. He was captured by the goblins and taken away to be executed."

"So Dumbledore protected him at Hogwarts only for him to be killed by his own stupidity." Hermione added. "I mean, he did that in front of about four senior goblins and the Director of the DMLE."

"That is stupid. He always was blindly arrogant. And now he's dead. You are okay aren't you? Both of you?" Ginny looked concerned.

"We are fine. It didn't get that close to us." Harry reassured her.

"So you are the Head of four families?"

"Not yet. I need to sign for the other three first. That will happen this afternoon, all going well."

"Okay. Now what is this about making five million galleons and spending three million?"

"The goblins bought the basilisk meat for four point nine million galleons. I spent one million for a fund to protect any family that swears not to join or aid Voldemort. Another million went to the DMLE for people and equipment. Two hundred thousand went to St Mungo's. Warding our homes took four hundred thousand and I just spent another fifty thousand on the extension."

"Oh, is that all." Ginny commented weekly.

"So far. I am going to get another fifty thousand converted to muggle money for our shopping trip this weekend." Harry grinned.

"That much? For what?" Ginny was surprised.

"Well, Madam Bones said that a husband was to take care of his wives. So I will be treating everyone."

"I can't let you do that, Harry." Ginny pleaded.

"Do you think you can stop me?" Harry kept grinning.

Ginny looked at him helplessly, then threw herself at him and grabbed him in a fierce hug. "Thank you thank you thank you." She whispered into his ears.

"You're welcome Ginny. I hope you will use your gratitude to protect me from Hermione and the others and keep them from torturing me too much during the shopping trip."

"Okay. I will protect you from Hermione and the others." Ginny nodded with an irrepressible smile.

Harry didn't miss it or the wink she through in Hermione's direction.

"Oh, sod it. I need someone to protect me from you as well don't I? Perhaps Emily will help?" Harry complained. He stood and called out. "Emily?"

"Stop him Ginny!" Hermione snapped as she jumped from her chair and ran from the room to find her mother and get her on her side.

Ginny launched herself at Harry again. He managed to dodge her initial lunge but she still caught his ankles bringing him to the floor.

Harry's reflexes were more than up to the task of catching himself on his hands and knees and pull himself out of Ginny's reach while she was trying to regain her balance. He was on his feet and out of the room before she could get up.

It was short delay but it was enough. Hermione had found her mother in the kitchen and managed to convince her to help in the half minute it took Harry to find them.

Looking over at Harry as he appeared in the doorway Emily gave him a cheerful smile.

"It is wonderful of you to help Ginny like that. I will make sure that you really enjoy this trip and I will encourage the other recipients of your generosity to do the same."

"Oh please kill me now." Harry groaned as he walked out, stepping around Ginny as she finally joined her friends.

"Don't you like shopping?" Hermione asked as she joined them.

Emily quietly followed them as far as the door, curious about his answer.

"Not really. The few times my aunt took me I ended up getting spanked or smacked and thrown in my cupboard without food or water for a couple of days because I was always better behaved than Dudley. She hated it when I showed him up, and it wasn't difficult either."

Hermione sniffed and grabbed him in a hug. Ginny joined her on the other side of Harry. She had caught up enough to hear the conversation. In the kitchen doorway Emily pulled back wiping a tear from eye.

Hermione and Ginny had brought Harry back to the lounge and had sat the three of them down on a couch before releasing the hug.

"This trip will be better. And I promise not to torture you too much." Hermione promised. "You just have to learn that it can be fun. And it's not like you would be the guy left holding the bags while the girl is trying on half the shop. You will be trying on things with us. I'll try not to let things get too far out of hand but you will need to relax and try to enjoy it."

"Okay." Harry nodded.

"Here is a question, how are we going to handle the whole wife thing?" Ginny asked.

"As far as I'm concerned nothing really changes." Hermione replied. "I will be Harry's friend and if we work as a couple and I can accept the whole multiple wives thing then I will stay married to him."

"I will really just leave it to the girl. If we get along then okay, if not then I hope we stay friends." Harry added. "Politically it would be useful if I had a wife for each family I am Head of. I can only occupy one seat in the Wizengamot but a wife could be assigned as a proxy so I get multiple votes and use that and my popularity, especially after the things I did yesterday get out, to effect some real change."

"If I stay do I get to pick which family I can be the Lady of?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, I suppose. Although if Hermione stays as well she can only be Lady Potter as that's the only family that will allow a non-pure-blood to be the Lady of it."

"Okay. Umm, Lady Ginny Black. Lady Ginny Potter-Black? Doesn't sound too bad."

"Picking out your married name already?" Hermione teased.

"Yes, Lady Potter. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Not at all, Lady Black."

They all laughed.

"What about the other two? What were they again?" Ginny asked.

"Malfoy and Lestrange." Harry replied dryly.

"Ouch. What are you going to do with them?"

"Well, Hermione thinks that Luna is more interested in Neville than me so it looks like they will go to Hannah and Tracy, if they choose to stay."

"What about Susan, Padma, or Daphne?"

"Not eligible. They stand to inherit their own titles."

"How many could you end up with?"

"Seven."

"Wow." Then Ginny winced. "How did Madam Bones take it? I would have thought she would be a little angry that you married her niece."

"She was more upset at Susan than us. Actually most of the political stuff came from her. She basically said that she didn't have a problem with the match and would leave it to Susan to decide if we would stay together." Harry commented.

"Are you going to have any say in whether you stay together? With any of us?" Ginny asked.

"Well, I was hoping that it would be a mutual decision between all involved."

"I'm not sure if that's incredibly nice or totally unrealistic."

"Probably both." Harry sighed. "I can't do anything normally can I? It's supposed to be Man and Wife not Man and Wives or Woman and Wives."

"True. That is one of the things that we are all going to have to deal with." Hermione replied. "I just don't know how."

"Have you had any word on getting turned back to a man yet?" Ginny asked.

"Sort of. Gringotts have a test that they use to determine if an heir is still eligible to inherit a title. Apparently there were a lot of attempts at altering the order of succession and this was not as uncommon as you would think." Hermione explained. "Harry was tested and found to still be eligible, meaning that he still retains the ability to impregnate a woman. We just don't know if it is because his condition is reversible or for some other reason."

"Right..." Ginny paused to digest this new information. "So what do we do now?"

"Well I am reading about the Animagus transformation." Harry replied.

"I'm looking at warding and ward breaking." Hermione added. "Harry, could you make notes that we could use to get the important points, sort of summarise the whole process. "If we have summary notes on each area then everyone can get up to speed quicker."

"What about the rest of the information? Isn't that important too?" Harry question, teasing her slightly.

"Yes it is but you can teach that to us once we've all read the notes." Hermione replied testily.

"What should I do then?" Ginny asked.

"You could go through all our books and compile a list of spells that we should practice." Hermione suggested.

"Yes, that would be good. And if you can think ways of making simple non-dangerous spells useful in a fight, as offensive, defensive or distractions, with suggested ideas. We need spells to take them down hard and fast but we also need ways to survive and get those spell to make contact." Harry added.

Ginny though for a second then her eyes gleamed at the challenge. "Okay. I'll do it."

"Great. I'll show you all my books and bring some pens and paper." Hermione led Ginny out of the room.

They returned a few minute later with pads and pens and a huge pile of books each and the three of them settled in to work.

!HPEaSE!

The three Gryffindors had just finished lunch when The Assessor arrived. He had brought a couple of practice swords an immediately began covering the basics of sword play.

He began with the danger of using sword, went on to how a sword could be used, covered some basic moves for Harry to practice and outlined a training program to support the lessons.

"I will only be able to meet once a week, so those lessons are going to be intensive." He instructed. "You will have to practice everything I teach you or you are going to suffer when we meet. Speaking of which, would Saturday or Sunday be more convenient for you?"

"If we make it Sunday then I will be better attired." Harry replied. "I have a shopping trip on Saturday. Is there anything you recommend I get?"

"Just some good exercise clothing both for training and running. We can decide what else you need when we determine the best style for you."

"Style?"

"Every warrior develops their own style of fighting. Most goblin warriors are similar due to our teachers, culture and stature but humans have a very wide variety of styles due to your variances in build and the different cultures you have developed."

"What sort of styles are there?" Harry was intrigued.

"Lots but there are three basics that most styles will fit in to, to some degree at least. These are generalisations that have little practical meaning other than as a reference. There's the Heavy Combat style where you use a small number of powerful strikes to overwhelm your foe. The Light Combat style use lots of fast strikes which do smaller amounts of damage individually. Then there is an Intermediate style which balances the two extremes. This is very general and shouldn't really be put into practice. Any good style may be predominately one style but will have aspects of the other two."

"Which is best?"

"They all have their strengths and weaknesses. A Heavy style may win you a fight in one strike but you have to hit your opponent, which is very hard if they are fast moving. A Light style will get you lots of hits and help you dodge your opponents attacks but you have to get lucky every time, where as a Heavy would only need to get lucky once. You also have to make sure that your strikes actually does damage to your opponent. An Intermediate or balanced style has the advantages of both, or the weaknesses of both. These are just generalisations. As I said, a good style will have elements of each. A true warrior will take any elements that suit and use them. But there can be a base style that suits them."

"What would you recommend for me?"

"Far too soon to tell, Harry. Far too soon." The Assessor chuckled. "Women tend to adopt a faster, more evasive style though, just for reference."

"I hope that that will change sooner rather than later." Harry growled.

The Assessor just laughed. "I understand you play the Seeker position in Quidditch?"

Harry nodded.

"The reflexes and speed of judgement needed there would lean towards a lighter, faster style also."

"That is a better reason at least." Harry grumbled.

"You got lucky with the basilisk, Harry." The Assessor turned serious. "You acted correctly and got in the right strike in at the right time. Luck is an important asset to a warrior but skill and experience allow you to make up for bad luck and take full advantage of good luck. You could never have taken a snake that big down by brute force. You made the right decision. And you did it in a crisis. That is a very good start. It is a trait that determines who is more likely to live or die. You made that kill and you have every right to be proud of it."

"If I lack brute force how do I tack down an opponent that can only be beaten by brute force?"

"There are moves and techniques, power strikes, that can give you that level of impact but they are long, complicated and involved moves. You have to perform them perfectly and at the right time or they will just get you killed. So possible, dangerous but possible. You are best to find and strike a weak point."

"And hope I get lucky or have a phoenix around." Harry sighed.

"You do have an additional issue you should be aware of." The Assessor looked intently at Harry. "Your sword is better suited to the Intermediate and Heavy styles. To use it in a Fast style will even harder and take even more practice, but your power strikes will be more effective."

"So I really am doing things the hard way."

"Yes." The old goblin nodded. "But if you perfect it, you will have the best of all the possibilities."

"Should be a piece of cake then." Hermione commented from the side lines where she and Ginny were watching quietly. "You have been doing things the hard way your whole life, you should be used to it by now."

Harry just grinned evilly at her.

"What sort of weapon would normally suit the Lighter combat styles?" Harry asked his goblin mentor.

"Any weapon that is light. Usually shorter weapons. Some warriors who use this style will practice with dual weapons. Difficult, but powerful once mastered." The Assessor thought for a moment. "I will bring a pair of combat knives next time. Those are long heavy knives with an enlarged cross guard for close quarters combat. They would actually make a nice balance for your large sword."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. They may be the wrong weapons for you, but we will find out. I will be able to judge better later on during your training. For now, practice the basic moves I showed you. You still have some time before your meeting with you account managers."

Harry nodded, picked up the practice sword and started practising.

Daniel had returned home partway through all of this and pulled his daughter and her friend back into the house to let their friend train in peace.

It was also Daniel who answered the door to Hooksnarl, Tapstone, Swirlfang and two other goblins.

"Good afternoon, welcome to my home. Please come in." He greeted them politely. "It's good to see you again, Tapstone. Sorry I missed you this morning."

"And you as well." Tapstone replied. "Unavoidable though, our jobs don't do themselves."

"Indeed. Harry is out in the backyard training, let me show you into the lounge and I'll go get him."

"Thank you."

Daniel left the goblin contingent in the lounge with Hermione and Ginny, who had been studying, and went out into the backyard.

He paused for a minute, watching a sweating Harry repeat a strike in a calm controlled manner while the old goblin looked on approvingly.

The old goblin noticed Daniel and raised a hand to stop him from interrupting, letting Harry repeat the move several more times before calling him to a halt.

"Very good, Harry. You are picking this up very well, much quicker than I had expected. You can take a break now. I believe your account managers have arrived."

"They are in the lounge." Daniel confirmed.

He took in Harry's state. "I'll bring you some water, lots of water. You may want to change your top before meeting them."

Harry looked down and saw how the damp shirt clung to his body, clearly outlining his new form.

With a quick nod and a blush that showed through his exercise reddened face Harry disappeared in to the house to remedy his unintended exposure.

Daniel detoured through the kitchen, filling several glasses and a pitcher with water, placing them on a tray to take into the lounge.

The Assessor had already seated himself when he returned, but gratefully accepted the offered water.

"Thank you, Daniel. I had forgotten the thirst one works up while torturing the next generation of warrior."

There were several chuckles at this.

They were chatting quietly amongst themselves when a still flushed but drier Harry joined them, gave a general greeting to all of them and apologised for keeping them waiting.

"Nonsense, Harry." Hooksnarl waved away the apology before any of the other goblins could comment. "We are aware of the training commitments of a Master Warrior."

Harry bowed his appreciation to his family's account manager and then picked up and drained a glass of water. Refilling it from the pitcher he sat on the couch between his fellow Gryffindors.

"So, what news do you have for me?" He questioned the goblin account mangers.

"Good news, Harry. Very good news. You remember Swirlfang, Head of the Black family accounts."

Harry nodded and bowed slightly towards the goblin in greeting, getting one in return.

"These are Snipspin, Head of the Malfoy family accounts, and Grottsnog, Head of the Lestrange family accounts."

"A pleasure to meet you both. Would I be correct in assuming that your presence here means that I am about to inherit the Malfoy and Lestrange family titles as well."

"You assume correctly Master Warrior Potter. I may I say that it will be a pleasure to deal with a wizard who treats goblins with respect." Snipspin replied.

Grottsnog agreed. "I was tiring of being treated like a slave. It was of great relief that the entire Lestrange family was imprisoned. I must confess that I was upset to learn of their escape. It is fortunate that they have not yet attempted to access their accounts."

"To business then. We must not keep the young Master Warrior from his training." Swirlfang put a close on the small talk. "Acting of Hooksnarl's suggestion, we have all compiled a summary of the current state of the accounts under our jurisdiction. Current account totals, property ownership and business investments. We also have the Head of Family rings and the documents you need to sign to be accepted as the new Head of Family for each family."

"If I may?" Daniel interrupted.

Harry nodded.

"Are there any outstanding debts, contracts, anything that Harry could be held liable for once he takes over as the Head of family?"

The goblins grinned. "Yes, but nothing Harry should concern himself with." Hooksnarl answered. "The inheritance act of 1537 states that should a title be inherited but someone of is not a child, grandchild or great-grandchild of the previous Head then all previous contracts are only held valid at the discretion of the new Head. Any crimes, debts, or other such acts committed by the previous family are rendered null and void. This is fortunate given that since Harry is not an immediate relative of any of the three families under discussion, we cannot divulge any information about these families to him until he takes over as Head of the families."

Daniel surprised his daughter and her friends by simply nodding. "Catch 22."

"I'm not familiar with the reference." Hooksnarl replied.

"It's a circular situation. You need the first thing to get the second but you need the second to get the first. Harry has to know about the families to decide if he wants to take over their leadership, but has to take over their leadership to find out if he wants them."

"Ah, yes, I understand. It is fortunate that it is not necessary. Anything that might have caused problems has been invalidated." Hooksnarl commented.

"So if I sign these papers there isn't going to be anything that will bite me in the arse?" Harry asked.

"Correct." Hooksnarl replied.

"So, can anyone think of a reason not to sign these?" Harry opened the floor comments.

"You will be a member of the Malfoy and Lestrange family." Ginny replied.

"A horrible thought but it does give me the chance to torment them and destroy the families permanently."

"Okay. I'm in." Ginny settled down and looked around the room.

"These are dark families; they would have been into a number of things that we won't want anything to do with. Are we prepared to deal with that?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know." Harry paused in thought for a moment. "Madam Bones should be here soon. I doubt she will cause me any grief about any of this and I was thinking that I could use my new influence to help her get rid of any illegal activities we might uncover."

"Well." Hermione looked impressed. "You took my negative and made it a positive. I'm in."

"My real concerns have been answered already." Daniel said.

"In that case, pass me a quill and show me where to sign." Harry looked at the goblins.

The documents were passed and signed. Then the boxes containing the family rings were passed. Harry paced each of the Head rings on his finger and felt the tingle of magic as they accepted him as the new Head of each of the families.

Harry was a little surprised. Even with four rings in the same finger they all fitted without problems. Magic has its uses he decided.

Hermione was surprised as well, but for a different reason. "I would have thought that the rings would have combined?"

"Normally they would but Harry had already decided to keep the families separate. If that changes then they will combine." Hooksnarl answered.

The other goblins had pulled out the summary pages they had brought and handed them over to Harry.

"Harry, if I may?" Tapstone finally entered the conversation, reaching for the documents.

Harry handed them over and watched as the goblin copied certain pages from each group before handing them back.

"I suppose you will want these property's wards checked as soon as possible." The goblin looked up from the parchments he was straightening.

"Yes but I would like you to hold off starting for the moment. I want Madam Bones involved with this. It is possible that there are illegal items and possibly even illegal activities having taken place on these sites. I would like the original wards removed completely and replaced. I don't want any possibility of any previous resident returning to any of these properties."

"I understand. I shall await her arrival." The goblin bowed slightly and grinned at Harry.

"Is there anything else?" Harry addressed the other goblins.

"Only what want you us to do now." Swirlfang answered.

"I want detailed list about the contents of the vaults. I need to know what everything is, any traps that may have been laid, any dark items stored there. I don't want anyone getting hurt. I also want you to restrict all access and transactions except those I approve. Any transactions will be brought to me for approval, either permanent or one-time-only. I also want all the existing keys either recalled or destroyed and a new set to be issued to me."

"Easily done, though it will take some time." Snipspin answered. "Is there anything else?"

"Not right now, except for a few questions for Hooksnarl."

"Then we shall leave you to it and begin fulfilling your requests. Good day Master Warrior Potter."

"Harry please, and good fortune to you." Harry stood and bowed to the departing goblins.

"You had some questions for me?" Hooksnarl asked.

"Just one really, and a request. The Potter family is the only one where I am liable for the acts of my ancestors. Are there any I need to be aware of?" Harry queried.

"No. Your parents, your mother especially, were careful to ensure that all debts were settled quickly. There were a couple of old marriage contracts that they settled. She did not want you father's family history to affect their future."

"Thank you. That is very good to know." Harry gave a sign of relief.

"You had a request?" Hooksnarl prompted.

"Oh yes. I want you to change fifty thousand galleons into muggle money. I need it before the weekend."

"Easily done. If there is nothing else?"

Harry shook his head.

"Then I shall take your leave." Hooksnarl stood and bowed. "I will have the money to you tomorrow and the completed lists of your possessions should be completed by then as well."

"Thank you Hooksnarl, you have been most helpful."

Harry walked Hooksnarl to the front door and as he showed the goblin out he noticed Amelia Bones arrive and begin walking up the path.

Waving good-bye to the goblin he greeted Amelia.

"This was good timing."

"Indeed." She smiled back at him. "Did you have a good meeting?"

"I believe it was profitable, although I am about to ask you for a huge favour."

"You have more than earned it. Ask away, just let me sit down first, you seem to have a habit of providing large surprises."

Harry grinned and led her into the lounge.

The two remaining goblins, the two Gryffindors and the Dentist greeted the Head of the DMLE as she entered; a greeting she returned warmly.

"Now, how can I help you?" She asked.

"As you may have surmised, I have taken over as the Head of the Black, Malfoy and Lestrange families." Harry began.

Amelia nodded.

"I have asked Tapstone to completely redo the wards on the properties owned by these families. While they are doing this I need these properties searched for illegal items and activities."

"I understand. That is a big request, but one that will deny our adversaries a number of resources." Amelia pondered. "Yes I will help you in this matter. I think I can provide a team of Aurors to assist Tapstone as he goes about his duties. I assume that given the hazardous nature of the task you will have additional resources at these sites such as curse-breakers and guards?"

"I believe that would be prudent." Tapstone replied.

"Good. I only need to send a couple of experience Aurors. I will bulk up the team with some recruits that have shown aptitude in the area to give them some real experience under expert guidance." Amelia smiled. "I think this will prove to be most beneficial."

"Excellent. Another extremely productive meeting." Tapstone stood and smiled happily. "I will be in touch when I have a team free to begin work on these properties. It may not be for a few days yet though."

"That gives me time to assembly my team. Thank you, Tapstone. And you too, Harry. You have enabled me to do more to ensure the safety of the wizarding world in the last day than the Ministry has in the last decade."

"You're welcome." Harry grinned at her. "Glad to be of assistance."

"I'm sure you are, since you don't have to deal with all the paperwork you have caused me." She glared at him briefly before smiling again.

Amelia pulled out a small box an enlarged it. Opening it she pulled out a small pensive. She explained how to place memories it the stone basin and which ones she wanted.

It took Harry several minutes to draw out all of the memories she wanted.

"I can't thank you enough Harry. I had best get back to work and deal with these. Good day to you all." She stood and left.

"I will take my leave also." Tapstone bowed to Harry and departed as well.

"Come on Harry. You have had a big enough break. Back to work." The Assessor stood and herded Harry outside to continue his training.

"Poor Harry." Hermione and Ginny giggled at their friend's plight.

Daniel smiled as well, but for a different reason. He had never seen his daughter so expressive and girly. Her friends had been good for her, Harry in particular. Whatever they chose, he was sure that Harry would be a permanent fixture in his family's life. As he left the room to leave the two girls to their studying, he wondered if Harry would like golf.

!HPEaSE!

Daphne Greengrass snapped yet another book shut. Yet another dead end. It didn't help that she had only the vaguest of ideas of what she was looking for.

She sighed. There was no real alternative. She would have to ask her father.

Making her way to her father's study she took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

"Come in." Her father's voice sounded through the heavy wooden door.

Pushing the door open, she entered and sat in a chair in front of her father's desk, waiting politely for him to acknowledge her.

Finishing what he was reading he turned a fond smile on his eldest daughter. "How are you doing today dear?"

"Quite well thank you father, if a bit frustrated." She replied.

"Since you are here, I assume you require my help."

"Yes, although I am very hesitant. There are certain confidences I am sworn to keep."

"I do hope you are being careful. Tell me what you can."

"Some friends of mine told me about their encounter with a dark artefact of unusual origin and abilities. Unusual enough that it caught my attention. It could possess a person and had the potential to return a person to life by draining the life from another."

For the first time in her life Daphne felt afraid of her father. His face had turned thunderous as he rose from his chair.

"And what were they doing with such an item? Tell me! Now! The item you have described is one of the blackest things magic can create. I will NOT have my family associated with such people. We may be considered a dark family but we are not evil." He ground out through gritted teeth.

"They didn't make it; they destroyed it though it was responsible for nearly killing three of them."

She watched her father calm down and retake his seat. With a deep breath he settled and provided his daughter the answer she had been searching for. "It is called a Horcrux. It is one of the blackest creations in the history of magic. A wizard uses cold blooded murder to split his soul and place it in an object. It is a means of preventing the wizard from dying."

"If the object is destroyed, while the wizard is on the brink of death?"

"Then he will die."

"So what does it mean if he managed to come back anyway."

He frowned in though then blanched. "No, that would be too evil." He muttered before looking his daughter in the eye. "You are talking about you-know-who aren't you? It was his Horcrux they found?"

Daphne nodded.

"For him to have come back he would have needed to create more than one. He would have needed to commit multiple cold blooded murders. To have made himself less human. What pureblood wizard would do that?" He mused.

"He's a half blood. His father was a muggle." Daphne replied.

"You know this for certain?" Her father was surprised.

"Yes. He was born Tom Marvolo Riddle. His new title is an anagram of his true name. He lied to everyone."

"How did your friends manage to destroy the Horcrux they found?"

"Basilisk venom."

"The basilisk I am dealing with the skins and fangs of?"

"Yes. The fang that is to be kept separate is the fang that struck the blow."

"That explains the sentimental value."

"I don't believe that you-know-who grew up in a magical family. How did he come across the information to find out how to make a Horcrux?"

"He must have met someone to help him, but who? There are a few people with this knowledge not many would share it. When did he attend Hogwarts?"

"About fifty years ago. He was responsible for Moaning Myrtle's death."

"That's a big help." Lord Greengrass pondered for a few moments before answering. "Slughorn. He is the only person who would consider telling a person outside his family and he was much less cautious back then. Now we know why he became so much more cautious."

"So we need to pay him a visit and find out what he knows." Daphne was getting excited.

"Yes, but we must be careful or he will run. Is there anything else I can help you with in the mean time?"

"If you could point me in the direction of any information on finding and destroying Horcrux's..." Daphne looked hopeful.

Her father studied her carefully then nodded. "I think you are ready."

He stood and led her to a section of the wall in the study. With some silent wand movement a section of the wall slid aside. Leading her into the hidden room he smiled at the look on her face as she looked around the hidden library.

"These books are much more dangerous than the one in the other library. I must insist that you do not take any of the books out of the room. I will bring you parchment and quills so you can make notes."

He pulled several books from the shelves.

"You will find the information you seek in here. I hope this helps you and your friends stop that inhuman fiend from destroying our world. If there is anything more I can do to help, just ask."

"Thank you father." She hugged him before sitting at the small table in the middle of the room and opened the first book.

Lord Greengrass looked fondly at his eldest child. She was coming into her own strength. It was a pity that she could not inherit the title herself, she deserved it more than most men that would be socially acceptable for her to marry. It was a pity that his father had agreed to cancel the marriage contract with the Potter family. He could have been a good son-in-law. Better than most in any case.

!HPEaSE!

Emily Granger returned home to find dinner nearing completion. Harry and Daniel worked together in the kitchen finishing off the meal. They worked in silence, Harry's movements a little stiff.

"How are you two?" She asked as she gave her husband a kiss and sat down at the table.

"Good, yourself?" Daniel replied.

"Good thank you. How are you Harry?"

"Sore." Harry groaned.

"He had a training session today. He is suffering quietly." Daniel grinned.

"And you have him cooking? That's just cruel." Emily cried.

"He volunteered." Daniel defended himself.

"Keeps me from stiffening up." Harry grunted.

"Well, you are having a hot bath and going straight to bed after dinner." Emily told him sternly.

"No arguments here. " Harry stretched painfully.

"You two look to be practically finished here. Go tell Hermione to set the table and Daniel and I will serve."

Harry nodded and stiffly walked out to follow her instructions.

It was a quiet dinner. Daniel brought Emily up to speed on what had happened while Hermione and Ginny talked quietly. Harry sat quietly struggling to remain awake long enough to finish his meal.

It was nearing the end of the meal when Emily had had enough of watching Harry struggle.

"Off to bed with you, Harry. You might be better having a bath or shower but I don't trust you not to drown if you get near water. Move."

Harry looked up a second. "Water? Hedwig."

Hermione and Ginny exchanged a glance and rose. "Come on Harry. We'll make sure you make it to bed and look after Hedwig."

They followed Harry as he struggled stiffly up the stairs and into his room. Hermione and Ginny helped him out of his shoes and pants. Ginny then went to fill up Hedwig's water tray while Hermione pulled her want and cast a simple charm to clean his teeth and freshen his mouth.

"You didn't put a bra on today did you?"

Harry shook his head tiredly. "Pr'bly sh'd of. Too mu'h bouncin'. Sore."

Hermione giggled quietly as Harry face planted into his pillow. She, with Ginny's help when she returned, got Harry on the bed properly and pulled the covers up, watching as Harry snuggled into the warm duvet.

Checking that the window was open for Hedwig the two girls left and closed the door behind them.

Entering the kitchen Emily looked up from stacking the dishwasher. "How is he?"

"He's fine. He will probably be pretty stiff in the morning though." Hermione answered.

"Such a nice boy, girl... What are we going to do about that? I know Harry is a boy and it would be rude to call him otherwise but no one would understand that. Outside you will have to call him by female terms." Emily's brow creased in confusion.

"I have been dreading that one myself. Harry won't like it but he will understand." Hermione replied.

"We can't switch totally to female terms though. He is our husband for the time being." Ginny said.

"Yes, but that we have to keep to ourselves. No muggle who doesn't know of our world, which means everyone you meet outside this house, could possible understand that."

"You're right, Hermione." Ginny sighed. "Is it just me or do Harry's problems just get bigger and crazier?"

"No you're right. I'm dreading the next one to come along. I am worried that we may not survive it."

"Yes we will." Ginny stated fiercely, staring Hermione down. "We are going to train our butts off and so is Harry and the others and we will survive and we will win."

Hermione stared at the younger girl and then nodded. "You're right. We are going to kick their arses clear across the Milky Way."

Emily watched the two girls silently, her expression a mixture of pride and worry.

"Have you sorted out where Ginny is going to sleep yet?" She asked changing the subject.

"She can share my bed with me. It's only for a night or two until the extension has the bedrooms finished and we can move into those." Hermione replied. "She doesn't snore so it'll be okay."

Ginny gently swatted Hermione's arm and glared at her. There was not heat in it and the two Grangers could see she was barely keeping her giggles under check.

Emily laughed. "Then I will leave you two to do the dishes. Don't stay up too late."

"We'll try not to." Was their reply.

Later that night the conversation in the kitchen came back to haunt her as she tried to settle down to sleep. Finally she brought it up with her husband.

"Hermione is worried. She said that Harry's troubles are getting worse. A student was killed a year ago, Harry's godfather recently. She is worried she, Harry or one of her friends will be next."

"So am I. I like would kick Harry out and forbid Hermione from ever seeing him again." Daniel sighed. "But I can't. I like the poor kid too much and it's not even been two days yet. Plus Hermione would never forgive us."

"So what do we do?"

"Pray. And offer whatever help we can to ensure their survival."

"So what can we do to help? We don't have or know anything about magic."

"And wizards know very little about muggles. I think I will leave early tomorrow and visit the library and research some technology that may help. I was going to go through Harry's paper work with him but I think he will be okay to leave it till the evening."

"That's a good idea. I might write dad and granddad. They may have retired from the military but I know that they would have kept up with things. Maybe they or someone they know can help with their training."

"We aren't allowed to spread the existence of magic, if you remember."

"Of course I remember." Emily quietly scolded her husband. "But if you remember, Harry is very good friends with the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and probably the next Minister of Magic. Surely Madam Bones would see the potential value of this and give us permission for specific individuals."

"A good point and a good idea as well. Special Forces training may just give Hermione and her friends the edge they need to survive and win. See if either of them knows of a very discrete ex SAS member who might be willing to do us a really big favour."

"In the morning dear." Emily snuggled against her husband, finally managing to relax enough to drift off to sleep.

They both felt much better now that they didn't feel that they were sitting completely on the sidelines.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

Thanks for all the feedback I've received over the last few weeks, and to everyone who has read my story so far.

I apologise for the delay's in this chapter, there are a few things I was unsure about and I wanted to get them right. Hopefully I have succeeded. I'm sure everyone will know why I picked the rating I did.

So here it is; the latest chapter. Please enjoy.

**Chapter 8**

Hermione moaned in enjoyment as Harry layered kisses around her neck. He pulled the shoulders of her night dress down, exposing her breasts and, kissing down her neck and chest, fastened his mouth to one. She gasped as pleasure coursed through her body and she pulled his head up to hers and captured his lips in a fierce and passionate kiss before he returned his attention to her breasts. She rolled on top of him and pulled his own night dress down to expose his chest and returned the favour, treasuring the taste of his large breasts.

'I'm dreaming, this can't be happening' she thought to herself as she was rolled onto her back, her night dress pushed further down and kisses showered across her chest and stomach. As she reached under Harry's night dress between his legs, feeling the wet signs of his arousal, her final thought was 'Who cares'. A long deep sigh of pleasure escaped her throat.

She gently slid her fingers inside his underwear and touched Harry's entrance as he sucked at her breasts before sliding her fingers inside and using the pause as he moaned deeply in pleasure to push him back and grasped one of his nipples between her lips.

Harry's fingers entwined in her hair as he held her firmly to his breast, groaning deeply at the sensations, pushing his chest into her. His other hand joined her's between his legs to ensure that she couldn't stop pleasuring him.

Hermione was not sure how long they continued like this before there was a knock at the door.

"Come on you two, or you will sleep the day away." Her mother's voice floated into her haze of enjoyment.

Releasing the breast from the confines of her mouth she answered her mother. "Okay, we'll get up soon."

Harry had used this gap to push Hermione back and start kissing her before moving his attention further down.

Hermione looked down at Harry through blurring, sleep filled eyes smiled before burying her face in his soft red hair.

Red hair?! Shock pumped adrenaline through her system and she found herself wide awake looking down at Ginny kissing her breasts and nipples. "Oh, Harry." She moaned.

Hermione jerked and pushed her back sharply with her free hand, the sudden movement waking Ginny fully.

As the younger red head looked at the bared bodies, glistening dampness from the others kisses and then down to where their hands joined between her legs, she turned paler and paler then blood rushed to her face turning her redder than she had ever been before in her life. Colour spread down her neck and began expanding over her chest.

Hermione gently freed the fingers from inside Ginny and turned away to sit upright on the side of the bed. Wiping her fingers on the covers she pulled her night dress back up. The rustle of fabric behind her told her that Ginny was doing the same.

"Were you dreaming of Harry?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Yeah." Ginny swallowed nervously. "A very... passionate dream."

"Me too."

They sat in silence for a minute, their faces burning in embarrassment, both refusing to turn around and look at the other.

"I'm going to use the bathroom." Hermione stood, pulled on her dressing gown and fled from the room.

!HPEaSE!

The two Gryffindor girls were not the only two who had an interesting morning. Harry had his own tale to tell but it was one he would be willing to share.

He had woken to a stiff body that protested at any movement. He would have been quite happy to stay put but for two things. He didn't want the trust his goblin mentor had placed in him to be broken, and he knew that the only way too really feel better was to get moving and work the stiffness from his body.

Rolling slowly out of bed he could see Hedwig napping in her cage resting after her nights hunt. Harry dressed, remembering the hated bra, and walked out to see who else was up.

He found Hermione's parents in the kitchen and greeted them as he got a glass of water.

"I'm going to try and have a run. If I can get my body to move faster than a slow limp that is."

Emily and Daniel refrained from questioning after his health further.

"We probably won't be here when you get back, so have a nice day." Emily said.

"You too. Are Hermione and Ginny up yet?"

"Not yet. I think they may have had a late night." Emily replied. "I'll make sure they are up before we leave and know where you are."

"Thanks. See you later."

"See you Harry."

Outside in the warming morning air Harry forced himself into a more normal walk, relaxing as the movement started freeing up his stiff muscles. Soon he was jogging and his body warming allowing him to pick up his pace.

His previous running experience was mostly running away from Dudley and his gang so running in a relaxed fashion was something of a novelty for Harry and he made good progress as he learned the neighbourhood. The female body added an extra dimension as his much longer than normal hair began to stream out behind him as he picked up speed. It was his breasts, however, than provided the real difference as his large mammary glands bounced on his chest in time to his movements. He was actually glad for the bra restricting their movement.

He wasn't concerned about getting lost. He could feel the magic of the wards being built at the Granger's residence and wondered if the others could as well. He would ask when he got back.

He had done better than he expected as he was looping back past a school. He wasn't running particularly fast, he didn't want to cause any more damage to himself, but he was proud of how he was doing.

He paused as he saw a number of white clad people in the school courtyard practising some unusual movements. It took him a moment to realise that it was a martial arts class and he took the opportunity to stretch as he quietly observed strangely compelling movements of the class.

He hadn't escaped the notice of the instructor as the black clad man nodded to Harry as he stalked around his students watching their movements and correcting a few as necessary.

When he was satisfied he made his way over to the gate Harry was looking through.

"Interested?" He greeted Harry. "A young lady such as yourself could benefit from knowing how to defend yourself."

"You're probably right. What sort of martial arts is this?"

"Aikido. It's a more passive form but includes sword and staff training. You can join in if you want. All prospective students are allowed a free class to see if they want to join."

"I am interested. Very interested in fact, but how long does it take to learn?"

The instructor laughed. "You never stop learning, practising or perfecting your techniques. It takes months to learn most of the most of the moves though if that is what you are asking."

"Yes." Harry nodded. "So how do I start?"

"Anderson. Show this young lady the first kata."

An older girl moved out of line and bowed to the instructor.

"Yes Sensei."

She smiled at Harry as the instructor returned to his class. "Hi, I'm Kate."

"Harry."

"Harry?" Kate looked a little surprised and confused.

Harry froze a moment but recovered before being noticed. "Harriett actually, but I prefer Harry."

"Fair enough. Just relax. The moves are simple and quite relaxing. Pay attention to the breathing as well, okay?"

She demonstrated the moves to Harry. "Now you try."

Harry mimicked the moves as best he could and Kate corrected his few mistakes until she was satisfied.

"Good. Now just keep practising the moves until they 'flow like water'." She quoted the words. "Try to feel you body's energy flow with the movements as well. The martial arts emphasise the importance of every part of your being, physical, mental, and spiritual, all working as one in a harmonious flow. Your breathing is an important part of that so make sure you keep it up."

Harry nodded and relaxed into the movement, trying to let stop making a series of individual movements and just performing one continuous move. After a few repetitions he started to feel his body's energy start to move in time to his movements and breaths. Harry closed his eyes to focus on it, letting it flow through his entire body, moving in harmony with his body's movements.

He performed several more repetitions until till he was comfortable with the moves and stopped, his eyes still closed as he felt his energy gently recede until it was at rest once again.

It felt difference now, closer, more ready to respond to his needs. Harry smiled as he opened his eyes, feeling refreshed.

He immediately blushed as he looked around at the other students. They were staring at him open mouthed.

Harry looked down but his clothes seemed to still be in place. Looking up at the instructor as he came over he voiced his surprise.

"What's everyone staring at?"

"You. Tell me, how did you do that?"

"Do what?" Harry's confusion was obvious.

"You had the wind moving in time to your movements. If you hadn't stopped when you did you may've caused a gust strong enough to knock us over. Where did you learn how to do that?"

"Dunno. Never done it before."

"Have you had any previous martial arts training?"

"No. This is my first time."

"So, how did you do it?" The instructor was getting frustrated in his confusion.

"I don't know. I just did was Kate told me. I tried to get my body, mind and spirit all moving as one just like she told me."

"Just like that? Well, I think you succeeded." The instructor stopped and looked Harry over, then shook his head.

"I think we should call this a day. See you all next time." He dismissed his class.

The other students agreed and bid their farewells as they gathered their belongings and left.

The instructor focused back on Harry. "Stick around girl. I want to talk to you. What's your name?"

"Harriett Potter. Call me Harry. I didn't do anything wrong did I?"

"Did you do anything wrong?" He laughed. "Any and every true martial artist spends his, or her, entire life trying to achieve what you did on your first attempt. You have achieved a feat I can only dream of, and you think you've done something wrong?"

"I really don't know how I did it. I just did what she said."

"I believe you. You are going to come back aren't you?"

"I don't know. I am really interested but I go to a boarding school in Scotland. I'll be going back in a couple of months or so and I've no way of continuing my lessons there. So unless you are willing to give me an accelerated course..." Harry looked hopeful.

"The reason it takes so long it that you need the time to really master each movement. By shortening the training time you actually hinder yourself. You need that time to practise each step."

"Well, I will have nine months of nothing but practising what you teach me over the next few weeks. If I practise what you teach me carefully would that make up for it?"

"Possibly." He stopped to consider it. "But you would have to practise everything, and in the proper order; at least for the first few months anyway. Will you be around here at Christmas and Easter so I can assess your progress?"

"I should be able to." Harry replied. "I'm staying with a friend at the moment but there is no reason why I can't stay with her during those two breaks. If she goes home that is."

Harry though for a moment. "She may be willing for us to come home if she knows I need to check in with you."

"I suppose it would be okay then." He too paused for though for a moment. "You would have to practice constantly. I'm going to have to run a special class for you and I don't want my time wasted."

Harry looked excited. "I promise to practice really hard."

"Okay, so how do we do this? Bear in mind that my time isn't free, however excited I am at the prospect of such a talented student."

"How much for an hour or two every weekday morning for the next eight weeks?"

"You would have to be here at six every morning. You are probably looking at around ten thousand pounds, but I will be able to provide you with your own equipment for that. You will just need to get your own gi."

"Gi?"

"The clothing. Can your parents afford that?"

"My parents died when I was one, but I can cover it. Can we start Monday morning?"

"Just like that? Okay, I look forward to seeing you then."

"Great. Umm. Before I go. What's your name?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"I forgot to introduce myself didn't I? I'm John Adams. It'll be a pleasure to have you as a student. I doubt you will agree for long though."

Harry grinned at the implied challenge. "I can take it. I'll see you on Monday at six then?"

"Yes. Enjoy your weekend."

"Thank you. You too." Harry waved and resumed his run home.

When he arrived back home he found Hermione in the kitchen as he went to get some water. She was studying and looked up as he can in and blushed slightly.

"Did you have a good run, Harry?"

"Yes. I'm going to start taking martial arts lessons starting Monday. I think it'll be great." Harry's excitement pushed his tiredness aside. "I got to try a bit on my way back and it felt wonderful."

"Good for you. Lictand is waiting for you in the lounge."

"Thanks." Harry quickly made a bowl of cereal, refilled his glass and made his way to the lounge to greet the goblin.

He found Ginny in there chatting idly with the Head of the Gringotts Construction Department while she worked through the books laid out in front of her.

She too blushed at the sight of him and made her apologises, using the excuse of leaving them in peace as she left quickly.

"Odd." Harry mused. "Good morning Lictand. How are you today? Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Not at all Harry. All goblins know that a warrior's training takes a high priority in their lives. And meals are eaten in whatever free time they can manage." He added, grinning toothily at the bowl in Harry's hands.

Harry grinned back. "I assume you have the blueprints you promised?"

"Yes. If they meet your approval then we can start immediately. I must admit, my entire department is excited by your special room, it'll be our greatest work yet."

He handed the plans over to Harry. "I remembered how much involvement your mate Hermione had in the other areas and have already shown her. She didn't have any issues. She has not seen the plans for the special room though."

"Good. Thank you. If Hermione has approved the rest of the extension then I just need to focus on the special room."

Harry sorted through the plans and brought the plans he wanted to the top. Looking through them he was impressed.

"I like it. I think it will look better than I expected. I noticed you have expanded the muggle buildings area to include a wider variety of structures."

"Yes. I felt you might prefer a more complex environment to train in. You see how the area flows through various types of muggle areas."

"Yes. Are these two buildings really over twenty stories tall?"

"Yes, Twenty five and forty stories respectively. And if you look over here, this street is similar to the layout of Diagon Alley."

"Brilliant idea. On that thought, is there enough room over here to create a similar sort of area to Hogwarts and Hogsmeade Village?" Harry indicated and area on the opposite side of the map near the mountain range.

"Only a smaller village I'm afraid. And we could not replicate the castle either."

"How about extending this outcropping and making a castle wall with a couple of towers. Not nearly as much work but it should give a similar feeling for attack and defence."

"Yes, that will work. I should have those changes ready for you within an hour. If you can approve the rest of the extension, I'll get my people started immediately."

Harry looked the rest of the plans over and noticed a few things he wanted to question.

"What is this structure in the master bedroom?"

"Your bed." Lictand seemed surprised that Harry needed to ask.

"I thought that we would have to furnish it ourselves?"

"Yes but a bed large enough for yourself and eight wives cannot really be considered furniture."

"Good point. Am I reading this right? The bathroom and wardrobe attached to the master bedroom are actually that big?"

"Of course. You have eight wives to cater for."

"Do they really need to be that big though? You could almost fit a Quidditch pitch in either one of them."

Lictand chuckled at the exaggeration. "Not quite. While I don't claim to be an expert on human females I think you are more likely to find that they are not going to be big enough. You might be surprised to know that Hermione seemed to approve the sizes without question. She even liked the large wardrobes and adjoining bathrooms provided to the other bedrooms on the same floor."

Harry shook his head. "Do you think she's looking out for me or herself and the other girls?"

"Does it really matter? The happier they are, the easier your life will be."

"A little harsh isn't it?"

"In wording maybe, not sentiment. Try; It is a husbands job to care for his wife, or wives in your case, and ensure their happiness, as it their job to do the same for their husband. Is that better?"

"I suppose. Is there another room here, off the master bedroom?"

"Yes. It's your private study. A man needs his space sometimes."

"And the girls are likely to commandeer the other bedrooms for their own purposes. Just as well there are twelve of them. Do I really still qualify as a man though?" Harry asked.

"To the goblin nation, you will always be regarded as a male, even if you show up pregnant."

"Which may happen, knowing my luck." Harry grumbled.

"So I have your approval then?"

"Yes. Please begin whenever you're ready."

"Thank you Harry. I'll return with my team within the hour. I believe that the warders will have finished by then so we won't be getting in each other way. Before I forget, Hooksnarl gave me this package for you." He handed a small package over to Harry. "I'll see you soon. I'm really looking forward to this."

"Thank you. Me too."

"You should be aware that only the two of us can see that your study on the plans. Your wives are unaware of its existence and will continue to be until you decide to show it to them."

"Why?" Harry was confused.

"Your private study is for more than just your personal space. It is also a more secure area that only a limited number of people will even be aware of its existence. You can keep you most private books and documents there. It also gives you somewhere quiet for training and meditation if you are ever in need of it."

"I understand. Thank you again."

"You're welcome. Until later."

Harry grinned as he watched the excited goblin leave the room.

He looked down at the small package and unwrapped it. It was a muggle style leather wallet containing a total of 5000 one hundred pound notes. Harry smiled and pulled out the ten thousand he needed for his martial arts lessons to keep on one side for Monday and ran the wallet and money up to his room for safe keeping and returned to finish his breakfast.

He was finishing off his breakfast when Ginny returned. She still flushed slightly as she entered the room but seemed in better control of herself.

"Did you have a nice run?" She asked as she sat back in her chair.

"Yes. I will be taking martial arts lessons starting next week. I'm really looking forward to it."

"I'm glad." Ginny turned back to her books.

"Ginny, can I ask you something?" Harry asked a short while later as he placed his now empty bowl on the small table next to his chair.

She blushed but her voice was steady. "Sure."

"Can you feel the wards?"

"How do you mean?" She asked, her brow crinkling.

"When I left on my run I found I could feel the wards. I used them so I wouldn't get lost."

"I can't say that I do."

"I did notice it more when I left the boundary. Let's go take a look."

Harry bounced out of his chair and took the bowl to the kitchen.

"Hermione, Ginny and I are going to see if she can feel the wards, coming?"

"Feel the wards? Okay." Hermione set down her pen and joined them outside.

Harry noticed that Ginny and Hermione were keeping their distance from each other and seemed to refuse to acknowledge the other's presence. There didn't seem to be any anger or sadness between them as far as Harry could tell but they were definitely behaving differently towards each other from last night.

Leaving the ward boundary at the edge of the property they looked back at the house.

Hermione frowned. "I think I can feel the wards, a slight buzzing."

She slowly backed down the footpath and stopped after a couple of houses and shook her head. "I can't feel it anymore."

Ginny did the same and got a little further than Hermione before she too lost the wards.

Harry joined them, surprised. "I got much further than this. I was using the feel of the wards as a reference during my run so I didn't get lost."

"I was worry about that happening. How far did you get?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not sure. I found the shops and the school. Does that help?"

"That is quite a distance. I wonder if you should be able to." Hermione looked impressed.

They returned to the property and looked at the warding team for someone to ask about the wards and saw a familiar head of red hair.

"Hey Bill." Ginny called.

Bill Weasley gave a distracted wave as he finished inspecting that section of wards. He nodded his approval to the team who had been working on that section and come over to join the Gryffindors as the warding team moved to another section, disappearing back behind the privacy wards.

"Do you work with the Warders now?" Ginny asked.

"The good Curse Breakers get rotated through the Warding Department as inspectors to check their work on high security sites. The different view point is invaluable to them and it's a good experience for me too, to work with newer wards. What are you doing here though? I went to the Burrow for dinner last night and mum was all upset at you having run off yesterday morning."

"I can't say I care too much. After being called a whore, I couldn't stay there anymore. You know that Mum's that much harder on me than you guys."

"I know. What brought that on?"

"Hermione's taste in underwear?"

"Huh?" Bill stopped in confusion while Hermione blushed and swatted Ginny's arm in protest.

"How did Hermione's taste in underwear get you in trouble?"

"Do you have to talk about this?" Hermione protested.

"When she gave me some of her old sets that she had out grown." Ginny answered her brother.

"Oh. A bit harsh of her getting angry over underwear."

"Does she need a reason to go off on someone? Especially me?" Ginny asked rhetorically.

"True. Still, I wouldn't have expected Hermione's taste to have caused that big a reaction."

"Just shows how little you know me." Hermione interjected primly. "Have you finished discussing my taste in lingerie?"

"Are you going to tell mum where I am?" Ginny asked, ignoring Hermione.

"I can't." Her brother replied. "I am not allowed to reveal anything I might learn while on the job. Gringotts rules. If I tell her that I've even seen you I'd be fired and you're not even my client. I like my job; I'm not losing it over one of mum's blow-ups."

"Thanks, Bill." Ginny relaxed. "I'm still way to angry at her to deal with her at the moment. Besides, my summer will be much happier and more productive staying here, if I'm allowed?"

Hermione smiled at her and nodded.

Ginny smiled back briefly and turned to Bill. "I fine here. I'm happy, well looked after and I think you know better than me how safe I am."

He nodded. "You are behind some monstrous wards here. Definitely safer than the Burrow. Probably safer than Hogwarts."

"Can I ask a question?" Harry entered the conversation.

"Sure Harry. You're paying for all this, ask away."

"Can you feel the wards?"

"A bit. It is easier if you stand just outside them though. Is that what you were doing just now?"

"Yes. Hermione and Ginny lost track of them a couple of houses up the road."

Bill nodded. "Just a buzzing feeling huh?"

The two girls nodded.

"We are using a damping effect to hide the ward signature. It's needed in a muggle area but this specific version is also a good safety procedure as it masks the true nature of the wards as well. You need special techniques to read the wards through it which are restricted to only the most trusted Gringotts employees. That you could feel them from that distance shows you have very good sensitivity to magic."

"So how come Harry could feel the wards about half a mile away?" Hermione asked.

"That shouldn't have been possible." Bill looked shocked. "Half a mile?"

Harry shrugged. "I used the feel of the wards as a guide when I went for my run so that I wouldn't get lost. They don't feel to be buzzing either; they feel more alive than that."

Bill stood gaping at Harry. He shook his head and regained control. "You should look at Warding or Curse-Breaking as a career. With senses like yours you would be a natural."

"He is a natural, Mr Weasley." A goblin had joined them quietly. "The Potters have always had an affinity for wards and been some of our best Warders and Curse-Breakers. Another section for you to check."

Bill nodded. "Back to work then. See you lot later." And left with the goblin.

"So I'm good with wards huh?" Harry commented.

"You should have studied Ancient Runes. That deals with wards a lot." Hermione replied.

"I would of if I'd known." Harry slumped. "Just one more thing that's been kept from me. Why don't people think to tell me these things?"

"I don't know Harry. I imagine they would say that you didn't ask."

"They died when I was one. How would I know what questions to ask?"

"Perhaps you should talk to Professor McGonagall or Flitwick when we get back to school." Ginny suggested.

Harry nodded and led the way back inside, his good mood lost.

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other sadly, then blushed and focused back on Harry. They followed him back inside and returned to their separate rooms to study. Harry needed some quiet space right now.

Harry cheered up again when Lictand returned with the team of builders and the new plans for the special room.

The new area had an external castle wall with one long and two short walls joined by a short tower at each end with a winding road up the hillside ending in a moat with a drawbridge and portcullis. The internal area had a single wall with two towers, one at each end reaching high above the wall. There was also a door in the cliff face of the inner courtyard the led into a hall cut into the cliff face.

The other end of the road led to a small village. A single street about half the size of Hogsmeade, there were still several building and houses on each side.

Harry was impressed. "You did better than I expected with the castle and village."

Lictand smiled. "I'm quite proud of it myself. I think we have a final plan. Unless you have had any more ideas since I left?"

Harry looked the map over and was struck by a thought.

Lictand saw it in his expression immediately and pulled a piece of parchment and quill to take notes.

"How about a marina and resort along the coastline? We have buildings for the golf course and ski field, why not there as well. I remember pictures of small houses built on stilts in the water with bridges connecting them." Harry looked at Lictand for feedback.

The goblin was already drawing quickly, Harry's word taking life on the parchment. "You're stilt houses here with interconnecting bridges, quite a few I think to provide both cover and room to move while remaining a confined space. A larger complex here on the shore... I will look up some muggle resort plans to confirm the internal layout. The marina here with its sea walls. You actually have enough water to sail a good sized boat and the river is wide and deep enough to sail as far as the waterfall by the mountain range."

Harry looked over the sketched plans with approval. "This place is going to be amazing. I haven't gone over budget have I?"

Lictand shook his head. "The space and environment itself covers about 80% to 90% of the cost. The buildings are much cheaper; particularly as we do that sort of thing so often, well not this exactly but similar things. The extension should be ready by morning. We will not connect it to the rest of the house until everyone is up in the morning. The special room will not be ready until Saturday though. You should be able to take a tour on Saturday afternoon. There may be a few details to finish off on Saturday night, possibly Sunday morning, but I do not foresee that happening."

"I'll be happy if I can get the Grand Tour on Saturday afternoon after my shopping trip. You might want to bring a few brooms though. I don't think any of us will be up for that much more walking. Don't worry if you are still finishing up on Sunday; I want it to be done properly rather than rushed."

Lictand nodded. "It's so nice to have a reasonable customer. Most wizards want the job to be finished as quickly as possible."

"I recognise that quality takes time and patience."

"Indeed. I'll get these finalised and into the master plans today. I must see to my team before they commence their construction. I'll also have my other teams commence the preparations for the confirmed areas of the World Room."

"World room huh. Good name, I like it. You could stick that on the door as a label." Harry grinned.

"Do you want the rest of the doors labelled as well?"

"Just the downstairs ones. Except the Entrance Hall and Lounge; I don't think they need to be labelled."

Lictand nodded. "I must go. If you could inform Hermione and Mrs Granger that we will be ready to remodel the backyard tomorrow afternoon, I would appreciate it."

Harry nodded. "Not a problem. I will see you later."

The excited goblin left to get started.

Harry grinned as he watched the goblin depart. He never knew the range of emotions that a goblin could feel or express until recently. The Assessor seemed happy to laugh at anything while Lictand showed more excitement for this project than he had ever seen from anyone else.

Shaking his head, Harry returned to his room and continued reading up on the animagus transformation.

!HPEaSE!

John Adams arrived home to his pregnant wife.

"Hi honey. How're you two doing?" He asked.

"We're doing very well. We have a doctor's appointment on Monday morning for our five month check up." She replied.

"Not too early I hope?"

"You'll still have time for your class." She smiled at him.

"Thanks. I have some great news and some not so good news."

"Oh. Bad news first."

"I have a private lesson starting at six each weekday for the next eight weeks."

"Honey, I know we need the money but really?"

"A girl showed an amazing talent today. First time doing martial arts and she achieved something I have never seen before. Something like those old legendary martial arts masters you hear stories about or see in the movies."

"Really? Wow. I never thought that sort of thing was even possible."

"Neither did I. I suppose that's why I never managed it. She did though. Doesn't know how, she was just doing what she was told; her mind, body and spirit moving together as one."

"Impressive. So you are taking this young talented woman under your wing?"

"For ten thousand pounds."

"Ten thousand!? She was willing to pay that? Her parents are that rich?"

"I asked her that. Apparently they died when she was one. She is paying for this herself."

"Poor kid. I would hate for our little one to grow up without us."

"Yeah. She goes to a boarding school in Scotland, which is why she wanted additional lessons."

"Which one?"

"She didn't say."

"Is she nice? Would I like her?"

"I think so. A bit shy. Thought she had done something wrong at first."

"You're not thinking of leaving me for her are you?"

"Of course not. Why would I ever leave my wonderful, beautiful wife? She's too young for my tastes anyway."

"So if she was older?"

"Never. I am with you. And I am going to stay with you."

"Except on weekdays at six in the morning." She grumped.

"For the chance to put our baby through collage."

"You love me don't you?"

"With all my heart."

He leant over and embraced his wife and future child.

!HPEaSE!

Emily returned home to join the Gryffindors for a late lunch only to find them in three different rooms. She found Harry last. He was upstairs in his bedroom reading.

"Good afternoon Harry. Can you please tell me what's going on?" She looked exasperated. "Yesterday you three were all together, today you are all in different rooms. What happened? Neither of them are talking."

"I don't know. I got back from my run and they were avoiding each other. They don't seem angry at each other, just uncomfortable."

"And you're here because?"

"I didn't want to feel like I was picking sides and I wanted to give them the space and privacy to sort this thing out."

"Okay. Well, let's go kick Hermione out of the kitchen and make some lunch."

Harry grinned and put his book down. "Let's."

Hermione didn't need much kicking. She just relocated to her bedroom as soon as they came in and said they were going to make lunch.

"You know, I think they're avoiding me as much as each other." Harry confused. "Do you think I did something? I thought we were okay last night, although I was out of it a bit. I don't think I did anything this morning."

"We may never know but I hope they sort this thing out soon, it was quiet nice to see the three of you together."

"Really?"

"Yes. Hermione never made many friends. One of the reasons we're okay with her wanting you to stay or with letting her spend time away over the summer and at Christmas, as much as we miss her." Emily explained as she and Harry worked together to make lunch.

"Her personality is so strong, as is her intellect. It drives most people away. She has learnt to temper it, but it was very hard for her when she first started at Hogwarts." Harry put his two cents in.

"I know. We were thinking of pulling her out at first then she wrote and told us she had made a wonderful new friend named Harry Potter."

"Did I really mean that much to her?"

"You still do. Thank you for being her friend."

"Even after all the danger she has been in because of me?"

"I like who my daughter has become. Her drive, strength and honourable nature are because of that danger. I will never like it but my family's strength has always come through danger and struggle."

"I meant to ask, Hermione mentioned her Grandmother Helga? Does that have something to do with it? It caused you and your husband to back down pretty quick."

"It has everything to do with it. She is actually my Grandmother, Hermione's Great Grandmother. My grandparents met in Europe during World War 2. My grandfather was a soldier; he met my grandmother in a German concentration camp that his division had just liberated."

"Oh." Harry was astounded and more than a little shocked.

"Yeah. The experience left scars on both of them but they're good people. They would not sit back and let something similar happen when they could do something to help. Actually, would you mind if they visited? My grandfather's military experience may prove useful. My father served in the military as well, though I'm not sure what he did. I was going to ask if they knew any Special Forces people that could be trusted to train you."

"Brilliant. I could use all the help I can get. They will be okay with magic, won't they? At least they're family so you can tell them, I think."

"They know that there is something different about Hermione but not what. It will be quite the surprise for them. I'm sure you can talk Madam Bones into providing whatever permissions are required to let them know about magic." Emily grinned at Harry.

"Sounds like there's a story there." Harry was surprised by the evil look on the face of the good natured woman.

"My grandparents always said that they have been through too much to ever be truly surprised again."

"I think we will manage. Just make sure that they don't come until after the weekend."

"Why not?"

"Because the extension and my special room will be finished this weekend. I think that will be enough to shock the pants off them."

"I can't wait. When do they start on the backyard?"

"Tomorrow afternoon. Lictand asked me to pass that on to you and Hermione. I was going to mention it over lunch when you were both together."

Emily nodded. "I think some mother-daughter time is called for this afternoon. We can begin planning." Emily looked very excited.

"You're really looking forward to this." Harry commented, once again seeing the resemblance between mother and daughter.

Emily nodded again. "I have wanted to redesign how the backyard for a couple of years now but have lacked the time to work out how to fit what I wanted into the space we have available."

"Well, you'll have plenty of space soon."

"I know. I'm really looking forward to it." Emily replied excitedly. "I think Hermione has an idea or two as well."

"Looks like you two are going to have a lot of fun." Harry grinned back at her.

"Yes we will, thank you very much."

"Don't mention it, happy to help. It's the least I can do." Harry paused. "What do your parents do?"

"My father also joined the military, like I said. He never really told me what he did but I don't believe he was with a combat unit. He retired a while ago now. Mum is a primary school teacher."

"That sounds nice." Harry smiled.

Emily ruffled his hair. "Go and set the table and get the others. I'll bring lunch out."

Harry ducked his head and ran out, his long hair flying behind him.

Lunch was a quiet and rather odd affair. Hermione and Ginny were now sitting as far from each other as possible and other than thanking Emily and Harry for the food and Hermione's short lived enthusiasm at the backyard remodel they had been silent, focusing on their meal.

Harry and Emily had chatted lightly throughout the meal and were getting along better and better. They looked at the retreating backs of the two girls as they left the table with the dishes.

"I don't understand what's going on between those two." Harry sighed.

"Neither do I." Emily sighed as well. "I'm not sure that Hermione will tell me either. I know my daughter quite well, even with all her time at Hogwarts, but I don't know this. Any suggestions?"

"Their problems seem to be primarily with each other so how about we lock them in a room together and not let them out until they get it sorted."

"Simple, but effective. Let's do it."

Harry looked at Emily in shock. "You want to do that?"

"They're not going to talk to us, make them talk to each other. Give them a little more time to sort it out themselves first though."

Harry nodded.

"While we are waiting you may want to review those documents from Gringotts, Daniel said he would go through them with you tonight."

"Great, I had wondered."

"We hadn't forgotten you, we just had to reorganise things a little. Daniel wanted to do some research; hopefully he will bring some useful information home with him."

"Whenever he has the time. I'm imposing enough on you two as it is."

"Hey, you're practically family. Actually, for the time being, you are family."

"Does that mean I should start calling you two Mum and Dad?"

"If you want. Hermione mentioned how you viewed her and I figured that you two might have a better chance if you saw me as a mother instead of her."

"It would be nice to have a mother. A new experience for me." Harry sniffed. "Why are you willing to do this for me?"

"Because you are willing to do so much for us and others without thought of anything in return. That's more than enough to make me want you as mine." She smiled gently at him. "You really are a wonderful person, Harry. Kind and generous, giving and intelligent. You deserve to have a family and you 're more than welcome to join ours."

"Thanks." Harry was tearing but trying to hide it.

Emily wasn't fooled and gathered him into a strong hug. A hug that, after a long pause, Harry, hesitantly at first, returned just as strongly.

After a minute Emily gave Harry a firm pat on the back and gave him a moment to regain his composure.

"Go on Harry. I'm sure you have things to do."

Harry smiled and ran off. Emily watched him go with a fond smile. He was a good kid. Hermione had picked a good potential husband, one that would always try to keep her safe and happy, even if he did currently have bigger breasts then her.

!HPEaSE!

Harry finished looking through the Lestrange file. It, along with the Black and Malfoy files, did not contain anything entirely unexpected. A number of properties, both in England and Western Europe, generally in the Mediterranean area. Ownership or partial ownership of a number of businesses, some of which he wanted nothing to do with which was to be expected from dark families. He saw multiple matches between the lists; it appeared that trading business shares was a common alternative to trading money.

Harry built a list to show the overlaps and give his a sense of total ownership. There were a couple of businesses in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade but the predominantly they were in Knockturn Alley. Again not a surprise.

Harry would want Madam Bones to search those businesses for illegal activity, as he was the majority owner or total owner for all but a couple of these businesses it would not be a problem.

Looking at the liquid side of the families, Harry noticed a large disparity. The Malfoy family had a much higher income than the others; Lucius Malfoy must be able squeeze a galleon out of others better than most.

The Malfoy family had four hundred and fifty thousand galleons in the bank with an annual income on ninety three thousand. He must have spent a lot to gain the influence at the Ministry that he had. The Black family had an income of thirty four thousand and five hundred and sixty thousand in the bank. Probably a product of not having a family head of about a decade. The Lestrange family was in a similar state. Twenty three thousand in income and three hundred and ten thousand in the bank. The real difference was that while most of the Lestrange and Black incomes came from land ownership, the Malfoy family had a very large stake in the businesses of the wizarding world.

Another million in the bank and one hundred and fifty thousand annual income. That was going to help the cause greatly, even more so that it came from the other side. Two for one as it were. Harry grinned at the thought.

Harry took a deep breath. He had put this off long enough. He pulled out the Potter family summary documents and began looking through them. He was shocked. There were a number of things that caught him unawares. The property list held the first shock. Listed with the property at Godric's Hollow, a property in France and another in Italy was number 4 Privet Drive. He owned the house his Aunt and Uncle lived in. The house he grew up in, in a cupboard of all places, was his.

There was another shock for Harry as he turned to the business page. Mostly magical, small shares in a large number of businesses, there were also three muggle companies, large percentages but nothing controlling, two he didn't recognise but the third was too familiar; Grunnings. His uncle basically worked for him.

Harry set the parchment down and took a deep breath. So many times he had been called worthless, a drain on their finances, and they lived in his house. Harry started shaking, holding back tears from a sudden surge of emotion. Slowly he managed to regain control. A few more deep breaths and he felt back in control again, but he needed his friends.

Harry stormed downstairs and into the kitchen. "Hermione, join me in the lounge please." He demanded.

He turned and left for the lounge, leaving a stunned Hermione behind him.

"You okay Harry?" Ginny asked him as he appeared suddenly in the lounge.

"No." Harry replied shortly.

Hermione arrived a few moments later.

"What's going on Harry?" She asked.

"This isn't working for me." Harry started.

"What isn't working, Harry?" Ginny looked concerned.

"This. You two can barely manage to be in the same room as each other. I need my friends right now. I need you two to sort out what's happening between the two of you and I need you to do it now. If either of you leave this room before you sort yourselves out, I will start hexing."

Harry turned on his heal and left, heading outside. Maybe some training would help him focus.

!HPEaSE!

Hermione and Ginny watched Harry leave then turned back towards each other.

"He has a point. We have been avoiding each other." Hermione sighed.

"Can you blame us?"

"No, but we need to deal with it."

"How? I've been trying to come up with something all day."

"Me too." Hermione sighed again. "We were both fantasising about Harry, but acting them out on each other. Was your Harry male or female?"

"Male at first then female. You?"

"Same. I initially thought my fantasy was overlapping with how we now see him. Now I realise my mind was responding to what my body was encountering."

"Me."

"Yes." Hermione looked down. "Have you had dreams like that about Harry before?"

"Uh, yeah." Ginny looked away in embarrassment.

"Me too. I think that's why we didn't realise what we were doing; I enjoy my dreams of Harry." Hermione paused, flushing slightly at her revelation before adding in a small voice. "I think I'm most embarrassed by how much I enjoyed it, even after I realised it was you."

"Could the oath have something to do with it? We don't know much about it." Ginny suggested.

"Possibly. It may be influencing us, amplifying or encouraging our emotions."

"How? How much?"

"The oath was Mind, Body, Soul, Heart and Magic. This could be an example of the Heart and Body aspects. I don't think it's a strong influence though, I certainly don't have any desire to kiss you right now."

Ginny coughed in surprise at her friends in wording. "So it's encouraging us to act on our emotions. How do we handle the whole more than one girl per guy situation or the Harry is a girl situation?"

"I think we have already found out. It's a theory I've been working on today. I'll need more information from Susan before I can confirm anything."

"Tell me anyway." Ginny settled down in her chair to listen.

"We viewed relationships in the traditional male-female sense. Then Harry becomes a girl. We don't change our emotions due to our belief that he will be turned back. So we have romantic feelings towards a female; still the same person but in a female body."

"So now we have feelings for a girl? Simply because it's still Harry?" Ginny asked, trying to ensure that she understood what Hermione was telling her.

"Yes. Now we throw Daphne's idle comment about sharing him into the mix. We may not want to but it gets us thinking about it."

"I'm guessing the oath is next."

Hermione smiled and nodded at Ginny. "We swear the oath and get married to Harry. All eight of us. Although I think Luna's obsession with being Harry's sister is more prominent to her and would be the emotion being amplified."

Ginny smiled and nodded. "That still leaves Harry with seven wives, all with different levels of attraction to him. The two of us with the strongest."

"Correct. Now we test our understanding of Harry. The last thing he wants is for us to argue amongst ourselves. Agreed?"

"That's our Harry." Ginny agreed.

"And if jealousy is going to be biggest cause of arguing then it would make sense for it to be damped down or replaced by something else."

"I'm with you so far."

"What if this morning was not just our fantasy of Harry but our acceptance that the others in the bond would share those fantasies and emotions?"

"Are you telling me that us acting out our fantasy with Harry was the bond's way of carrying out Harry's desire for us to get along?"

"If we're that open with each other and Harry, what would there to be jealous of? It's just a theory." Hermione shrugged.

"But one that fits what we know so far. Does this mean that I will be just as comfortable snogging you as Harry?"

"Not yet, but I'm thinking it may be possible. It would solve the multiple wives issues nicely."

Ginny sank back into her chair. "Bound to Harry Mind, Heart, Body, Soul and Magic. Sharing that bond with six other women, both towards Harry and each other."

"Nicely summed up. I'm wondering if we might possibly be experiencing Harry's attraction to each other."

"Sharing emotions through the bond. Susan did suggest that we could share our magic through it so why not our emotions."

Hermione nodded. "That comment is what got me thinking in this direction."

"So what do we do now?" Ginny finally looked Hermione in the eye.

"We decide if we are okay with it. I don't believe the bond can force anything, only encourage. We need to decide if we are okay with this sort of thing being encouraged." Hermione replied meeting her younger friend's eye.

Ginny nodded. "What do we do about tonight?"

"We can share again, I don't mind. We just need to remember that if we are enjoying any fantasies, that it's probably with the other one of us."

Ginny blushed but shot back. "Just keep your fingers out of me this time."

Hermione blushed but managed a retort. "Funny, you enjoyed it at the time."

Ginny turned bright red and hurled the cushion she was sitting on at Hermione.

Hermione ducked and pull her own cushion to retaliate. The two dissolved, giggling, into a pillow fight that brought Hermione's mother into the room to chase them outside. Emily watched the fleeing girls with a much lighter heart.

The young Gryffindor girls were still calming their giggling as they found Harry. He was still outside, having abandoned the practice sword in favour of the kata he had learnt that morning.

Hermione and Ginny watched him repeat the same flowing movements again and again until the air around Harry suddenly charged and started flowing in time with Harry's movements, stirring the grass and flowers around him. The wind grew, ruffling the hair and clothes of the two girls more and more. Soon they had to hold their skirts down as their hair streamed out from their heads.

"If he doesn't stop soon he'll tear the house down." Hermione had to raise her voice over the wind.

"I'm more worried about us getting blown away." Ginny shouted back. "We need to get him to stop before someone gets hurt."

"Excellent idea. How do we do it?"

"You're the one with all the ideas, Hermione."

"Then it must be your turn."

Ginny glared at her but moved forward towards Harry and tried shaking his shoulder. Her whole body tingled as the energy flowed through her but it didn't cause any pain. The energy winked out moments later and Harry turned to face her.

"You two friends again?"

"Yes we are. It's not totally sorted but our problems won't be causing you problems. What did you find? You were really upset before."

"Just that I own my aunt and uncles house and about 40% of the company my uncle works for."

"Wow. That's unexpected."

"Yeah." Harry sat on the ground and let the two girls join him, cuddling up on either side to provide additional physical comfort. "All the times they told me how much of a drain on their finances I was, how much generosity they lavished on me at great expense. They made me grow up in a cupboard in my own house."

"I wonder if they even know?" Hermione commented.

Ginny laughed. "Imagine the look on their faces when you give them an eviction notice, or sell it to them at an inflated price."

"Normally I'd say that's mean but in this case I'm all for it." Hermione agreed.

"Yeah, but they didn't have a choice on me staying with them either." Harry mumbled. "Dumbledore just dumped me there."

"Maybe so, but they chose to raise you in such an appalling fashion. Any halfway decent person would have given an honest attempt at raising you right." Hermione replied looking at him intently. "They chose to raise you in a cupboard. They chose to treat you in an abusive manner. They don't deserve your charity or respect. They lost that right a long time ago."

"You may be right, but I still have to believe it." Harry replied morosely.

"You're a good person Harry." Hermione hugged him.

"Better than they deserve." Ginny added as she hugged him from the other side.

Harry lent into the hugs for a minute. "Thanks. I needed that."

"You're welcome, Harry." Hermione said as she pulled back.

"Anytime." Ginny added. "Now, show us what you found, and we need to talk about what just happened here."

"Huh?" Harry looked perplexed.

"That thing you were doing just now. You were stirring up quite a storm."

"Oh. Uhh, woops. Sorry. I, uh, kind of lose track of myself when I'm doing that. It's why I'm taking martial arts lessons; it was the kata I learnt that enabled me to do this. It wasn't too bad was it?"

"I thought we were going to get blown away!" Ginny exclaimed. "I thought the house was going to get blown away!"

"What actually happened?"

"We were watching you practice, you sort of 'energised' the air. After that the air just started moving with you and kept getting stronger until we had to stop you before we risked getting hurt." Hermione explained.

"You might want to wait until the training room is finished before practicing that further, but if you master it you may have a very effect weapon you can use." Ginny added.

"Really?" Harry looked up in surprise.

"I think so. An invisible punch of air without the use of a wand, what do you think Hermione?"

"I agree. But you'll need lots of practice to make it an effective weapon."

"Something to work on during my weekday lessons." Harry commented as he stood and looked around the yard.

Hermione stood and offered her hands to her friends. "Come on; let's look at what you found."

Harry and Ginny accepted her hand up and followed her back into the house.

Reaching Harry's bedroom he picked up the documents from Gringotts and the notes he had been making and showed them to the two girls.

Hermione looked his notes over and nodded. "A good idea Harry. You maths looks correct too. You haven't included the Potter family assets though."

"I know. I got upset and left before I got that far."

"I can do it for you if you want?"

"Thanks. I'm not sure that I'm ready to look at them again. Not yet anyway."

Hermione grabbed his pen and looked through the Potter family documents and gasped.

"What is it?" Ginny asked from where she sat next to Harry.

"Just that the Potter family has more income and cash on hand than all of the other families. They get seventeen thousand from property and a series of small investments in a range of magical businesses but the three muggle companies provide a combined income of over one hundred thousand." Hermione scribbled some quick calculations. "One hundred and thirty eight thousand galleons in annual income. Currently at least; muggle companies can vary a lot. I don't know much about businesses and investments."

"How much cash? If you don't mind me asking?" Ginny blushed a little.

"A little over eight hundred and sixty two thousand."

Ginny gaped.

"Actually, the Potter family pretty well beats all the other three combined. Just goes to show what careful investing in the muggle world can do for you." Hermione commented as she added those figures to the others.

"And not touching it for over a decade. So, that gives us about four million in cash and nearly three hundred thousand in annual income. Quite the War Chest. Do you know much about investing in the muggle world?" Harry asked.

"No. Dad would be the person to ask. He has some investments with a company he deals with through his work." Hermione replied. "It looks like you have a stake in almost every business in Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade and Knockturn Alley. The Potter family doesn't have anything over 5% in the magical world but they have a lot of variety."

"I noticed that. I wonder what the story behind that is."

"We may never know, unless some of these business owners know. How much were you thinking of moving into the muggle world?"

"Maybe half, if the return is worthwhile."

"That may get you another couple of hundred thousand a year." Hermione replied after a bit of thought.

"I wonder what the look on that finance companies representative's face would be when I tell them I want to invest twenty million pounds with them." Harry grinned.

Hermione returned it with one of her own. "I don't know. Please let me be there to watch."

"Sure, no problem. You want to come too, Ginny? Ginny? Are you okay?"

Ginny was sat on the bed next to Harry with her jaw dropped as far as it could go and a vacant expression.

"I think we broke her." Harry commented.

"How should we get her attention? Tickling? Ice water?" Hermione asked mischievously.

"Not sure, but we better decide quickly, she's starting to drool."

Ginny solved the problem for them as she slipped off the bed. The sudden falling sensation elicited a short shriek before she thudded to the floor.

Hermione passed her a tissue which she looked at blankly.

"To wipe your mouth."

Ginny wiped the back of her hand across her mouth and encountered the short trail of saliva. Blushing furiously, she grabbed the tissue, bolted from the room and disappeared into the bathroom locking the door behind her.

"Do we go after her or give her some space?" Harry looked over at Hermione.

"Space I think. She's embarrassed more than anything else. We'll give her a bit to tidy herself up."

"Let's head down stairs to the lounge. Your mother wanted to discuss the backyard with you and I still need to make notes on the animagus process."

"Haven't you started that yet?" Hermione asked as she stood to leave.

"No, I wanted to finish reading through the book first."

"Is it going to be difficult?"

"The initial stages seem to be the hardest. Once you start making progress it's just a matter of time and practice."

"So much to learn, so little time." Hermione sighed happily.

"Another great Hermione quote, along with 'killed or worse expelled'."

Hermione swatted him on the arm, but couldn't completely hide her smile.

!HPEaSE!

Ginny found her friends in the lounge once she had regained her composure. Hermione was sitting with her mother looking through several books and magazines, making notes on a pad. Harry was nearby scribbling notes from the book he was reading. He glanced up and gave her a brief nod and a smile before returning to his work.

Ginny sat back down in her chair and picked up the book she had been looking through earlier and glanced over at Hermione and her mother, sitting together talking quietly. Ginny smiled wistfully, she wished her relationship with her own mother was as close.

They had worked quietly for a quite a while when Emily started giggling and tickling Hermione as she squirmed away from her. Harry and Ginny looked over at the pair then at each other. With a shared grin they each pulled a soft pillow from the chairs they were sitting on and launched them over at the laughing duo. The pillow impact startled them from laughing for a second until they fired the pillows back at the other two.

"They look much better over there, don't you think?" Emily chuckled.

They all laughed and settled back down to their work.

!HPEaSE!

It was late afternoon when Lictand returned. Harry escorted him into the kitchen away from the others and looked over the finalised plans.

"I like it. I think we have it right this time." Harry nodded approvingly at the goblin's excellent handiwork.

"Pity." Lictand surprised them both. "I was hoping for something new. This has been a most enjoyable project."

"When I take up a new residence in my own home I'll ask you to create a new version for me there." Harry replied.

Lictand's eyes widened in excitement. "Can we make it bigger and better next time?"

"We must. I can't let my in-laws home be better than my own can I?" Harry replied in a mock serious tone.

"Of course not." Lictand agreed. "I can't wait to finish this one so that I can begin planning your next one."

Harry chuckled at the bouncing goblin, who stopped and looked at him seriously.

"Is it funny to see a Master Craftsman enjoy his work?" He asked.

"No. Just goblins who are bouncing around like children in a candy store."

Lictand chuckled. "I suppose I was acting a little silly. Most inappropriate of me."

"Not at all. I like seeing people enjoy what they do for a living. I hope I'm as lucky."

"I think you will be fine." Lictand replied. "You can bring so much joy and excitement to others, not even us goblins have been immune. I think you just need to find those who will do the same for you. If you haven't already." Lictand trailed off with a grin.

"You know, I may just have been that lucky." Harry smiled back.

"Well, on a more serious note. The preparations are going well for the World Room. The room should be in place by Friday evening. The construction should be completed before Sunday morning."

"So the grand tour had best wait until Sunday. That's okay, I'm sure my other friends won't mind returning, and they will be rested from Saturday's shopping so they will probably be able to enjoy it more."

"I do apologise for the delay."

"Not your fault. I have been making changes and additions since we started. The delay was inevitable."

"Yes it was, but the results will be much better for it. I will leave you and return to oversee the construction. It has been a pleasure working with you Master Warrior Potter. I look forward to our next project together."

"I look forward to it as well. I do believe that we will rewrite the realms of possibility with the next room."

"I can't wait. Good day Harry, until tomorrow. I will give you the tour of the extension then."

Harry nodded. "Until tomorrow then. Good day Lictand."

Harry showed the goblin out and returned to the lounge to join the others.

He paused a moment as he sat down. Then looked up to address the others. "Should we take a trip to Diagon Alley tomorrow?"

The others looked up in surprise.

"It's a good idea but we may not have time tomorrow. The shopping trip is the day after. Sunday would be the soonest, and it'll be easier then as we'll have a floo connection." Hermione was the one who answered.

"We'll have the floo connection by the afternoon, but if you need to spend the afternoon sorting out the backyard then that's okay. We can go on Sunday, we can invite the others as well. I'd like them to come over on Sunday anyway to for the grand opening of my special room."

"The one you refuse to tell us anything about. I really do think that you're doing something sneaky with that room." Hermione glared at him.

"I'm trying to do a lot of sneaky things with that room." Harry grinned back at her.

"You'd better not have created a play room for yourself. We need to take this seriously."

"I can assure you that the room is very well designed and will cover a huge range of possibilities."

"I find that less than reassuring." Hermione's glare intensified.

"Let him be Hermione." Emily intervened. "I'm sure that Harry has designed a room that will meet all your needs."

"I have certainly tried to do so." Harry added.

Hermione sat back, not fully mollified but her glare had softened. "I will judge for myself on Sunday."

"Please do. I look forward to your opinion." Harry replied. "Particularly regarding any possible improvements."

"You think you missed a few things do you? Perhaps a few training facilities?" Hermione shot back.

"There may be one or two things I missed." Harry replied casually. "I have tried to cover as many eventualities as I could but I've probably missed something."

"If you had gotten our input sooner we may have spotted some things you missed."

"True, but then I wouldn't have been able to give you such a big surprise." Harry replied as if stating the obvious.

Hermione huffed and turned back to her notes.

Emily winked at Harry before joining her daughter in their planning.

Ginny leant over and whispered. "I think you'll have done a great job. I can't wait to see what you've come up with."

"Thanks." Harry whispered back.

!HPEaSE!

Dinner was a much happier affair than lunch with Hermione and Ginny chatting away with everyone. While the two girls cleared the table from Harry's and Emily's joint master piece Harry broached Daniel on the subject of investments in the muggle world.

"The company I deal with is quite exclusive, I was only invited after several discussions with one of their senior partners, who is a client of mine, who finally invited me. I can introduce you to him and see what he thinks, though it may not be any time soon."

"I was thinking of around the twenty million pound mark so that should catch their attention." Harry commented.

"Yes, that will defiantly catch their attention, but it may not be enough on its own. They have a very high reputation so you will need to make a good impression on a personal level." Daniel replied with a cough to cover his shock at the amount of money.

"If they take me on, what sort of return could I expect?"

"Very good. The reason for their reputation is that they are some of the best investment managers in England and Europe and it's a well-earned reputation. You could expect maybe 15-20% return on your investment. They're pretty canny on what they pick to invest in but they are not perfect. I doubt you will lose any money though."

"So my twenty million pounds could grow rapidly."

"Very. More so if they get you in on an excellent investment opportunity." Daniel replied. "They do get those quiet often. Their reputation is as strong to those needing investors and they are just as discerning."

"I hope that my introductory meeting goes well then." Harry sighed. "You know, this is one time I do actually wish they knew of the boy who lived."

Daniel laughed. "You don't miss it until you need it, though I would like to see you having to explain why you are now the Girl-Who-Lived."

Harry just grumbled quietly.

"Go and get those documents from Gringotts. We can go through them now and then I've got something for you." Daniel said once he had calmed down.

Harry nodded to left to get them.

Returning and handing them over with his notes He sat down next to Daniel and watched as he sifted through them.

Reaching the notes Daniel nodded in approval. "I like your summary; broken down by company and owning family. There is very little overlap between the Potter family and the other three isn't there?"

"We noticed that too. I'm not sure that I want anything to do with some of the businesses owned by the dark families. But if I get rid of them I want it to be in a way that doesn't benefit Voldemort."

"I suppose, it depends on the ratio of their profitability against their value."

"If I can deny them more money by selling them rather them keeping them?" Harry questioned.

"Sort of. It's more a case of how long it takes to recoup the money spent on buying the shares."

"So if they are not very profitable I can drain them of their ready cash and leave them with little method of reclaiming it."

"Exactly." Daniel nodded.

"What are you doing Sunday morning? We were going to go to Diagon Alley. I suppose I can leave the girls to go shopping while I talk to the goblins, would you like to join me?"

"Why not." Daniel agreed. "I am curious about how the economy of the wizarding world works. Maybe some of your girls will be able to give you some good advice."

"Yes." Harry's eyes widened. "Why didn't I think of that sooner? Daphne, Hannah, Padma, Tracy. Their parents are all business people, they must know something. I will have to talk to them on Saturday."

Daniel nodded. "Why don't you put those away and I will meet you in the lounge."

Harry nodded back, collected his papers and left.

Returning to the lounge he noticed a pile of books in front of Daniel.

"Military equipment and weapons, some surveillance equipment and some electronic equipment. I thought there might be some good ideas in here, either to get or replicate in the magical world." Daniel explained.

Harry practically jumped on the pile and began sorting through it. Pulling out a book on weapons he started flipping through it.

They were working through the pile when Hermione and Ginny returned from the kitchen and joined them. Hermione thanked her dad, hugging him firmly, before delving into a book on various surveillance equipment and techniques. Emily joined them a little later on, continuing with her reading on gardens.

Harry looked around at the other four in the room and smiled happily. He quietly wished for more times like this and he return to his book.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

Thanks once again to all those who are continuing to read my first foray into the literary world.

I apologise for the delays in posting this. I only have the usual excuses; work, personal commitments, giant racoon attacks... (20 House points to anyone who recognises that reference, my partner is a fan).

I have received some very good feedback from some people, though I have seen a common complaint. People aren't happy about my lack of use of female terms for Harry.

In my defence I do have my reasons, which will hopefully be made clear in future chapters. Ultimately the point I am trying to make is that Harry is still Harry. His physical body does not define his identity. I don't know if other people can see my point but I will continue to unfold my story according to my vision. Hopefully people will continue to enjoy reading it.

In any case, on with the show...

**Chapter 9**

Harry woke up early again and left on his morning run. He found he was not quite as stiff this morning but was still unhappy about the early hour. Still, the brisk early morning air was invigorating and quiet neighbourhood was relaxing to traverse so he made good time.

Hermione forced herself awake. She was enjoying another fantasy with Harry until the logical part of her brain reminded her of the previous morning. Hermione looked up into Ginny's red locks and pushed the younger girl away, breaking the kiss. Pinching the flesh she was holding on to Ginny jerked awake with an ouch.

The young red head blushed as she looked down at the older girl she was straddling and dropped her head in embarrassment.

"We did it again." She commented weakly.

"Yep." Hermione agreed. "Feel free to get off me whenever you want." She teased the younger girl.

"I would, but you'll need to let go of me first." Ginny replied, fighting her blush.

Hermione looked down and saw her hand disappear up underneath Ginny's raised nightgown. She reddened as she realised just what part of Ginny she was holding.

The girls disengaged from each other. Ginny had perked up a little at the feeling she had won the verbal sparring.

Hermione tried to get her own back. "You know Ginny, you have nice lips and are a good kisser but I would prefer it if you thought you were kissing me instead of Harry."

Smack!

Ginny had flushed bright red and swung her pillow round into Hermione face sending the two girls into a giggling pillow fight.

Emily opened the door and looked in on the commotion. "If you break the pillows you get to fix them." She told them in a mock stern voice.

The two girls stopped, looked at each other and launched the pillows at Hermione's mother who ducked back and closed the door for protection.

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other laughing and replaced the pillows back on the bed. This morning's embarrassing situation had been defused quickly this time and they began getting ready for the day.

After they had eaten the two Gryffindor girls continued their reading as they awaited Harry.

Harry return a little later, stretched and began practicing his kata for a short while before eating.

After breakfast he showered and joined the girls, continuing his animagus notes and joining in on the light conversation and humour.

"Are you two ready for the shift into the extension?" He asked.

Ginny nodded. "I never really unpacked so it's a simple matter for me to move."

Hermione sighed. "I, on the other hand, have a lot to move. Since you two can shift so easily, you can both help me." She finished brightly.

"If you want." Harry shrugged. "Lictand had suggested getting a couple of house elves to help look after the special room so I was going to hire Dobby and maybe Winky, if she wants to be anyway."

"And you don't think you're being lazy, not looking after that room of yours by yourself?" Hermione questioned.

"Nope. Not lazy at all. Simply nowhere near enough time to do it properly by myself." Harry grinned at her.

"I think you're just being lazy." Hermione looked at him primly.

"I think you don't have all the facts." Harry mimicked her.

"Let it go for now, Hermione." Ginny intervened. "House elves love to work. If there is as much work as Harry seems to think them they'll be very happy, and you know that Harry won't abuse or take advantage of them in any fashion."

"They can help maintain the backyard as well. Think of it as helping the war effort. If they do some of the chores, think how much more time for studying and training we'll have." Harry added teasingly.

Hermione glared at him. "You may have a point but that is not a polite way to make it."

"But it was both accurate and funny." Ginny laughed.

Hermione extended her glare to include Ginny as well.

"What are we going to do for furnishing?" Harry asked.

Hermione blinked and looked at Harry in surprise. "Furniture for the new rooms. Of course. How could I have missed that?" She scolded herself. "We will need to buy some and quickly. The rooms will need to be decorated too."

"We will be okay for a few days. The master bedroom has a built in bed so I'm sure Ginny can use mine until we get those rooms sorted." Harry tried to calm her. "And I'm sure that Dobby and Winky, if she joins, know some tricks to help decorate the rooms faster."

Hermione relaxed. "You're probably right."

"When are you going to ask them if they want to work for you?" Ginny asked.

"I'd better do it soon, so they have time to settle in before the extension is finished this afternoon." Harry replied, deep in thought. "Hermione, please don't interfere."

She looked shocked. "Why?"

He just shook his head and called out. "Dobby?"

"Harry Potter Sir is calling for Dobby? What can Dobby do Harry Potter?" The overexcited house-elf was talking a mile a minute even before he managed wrap his arms around Harry's legs.

"Hello Dobby. I thought you might come if I called. I was wondering if you wanted to work for me." Harry asked.

Dobby's eyes widened hugely and his jaw dropped but no noise came.

"Dobby? Are you okay?"

"Harry Potter wants Dobby to be his house-elf? Dobby is speechless." Dobby managed.

"How much do you want? Two galleons a week and weekends off?"

"No. Dobby does not want money from Harry Potter. Dobby wants to be Harry Potter's true house-elf and keep all his secrets."

"Are you sure Dobby? You don't have to." Harry tried to persuade Dobby otherwise.

"No. Dobby wants to be Harry Potter's house-elf." Dobby was surprisingly firm.

"If that is what you truly want then that is allowed. Are you sure?"

"Yes. Dobby is sure. But Dobby would like to keep his clothes." He finished tentatively.

"Of course. And I can still pay you so you can get more when you want."

"Harry Potter is the greatest wizard ever." Dobby wrapped his arms around Harry's legs again, nearly knocking the wizard off balance.

Dobby let go of Harry and looked down sadly. "Who will be cleaning Master Harry Potter's school rooms if Dobby is leaving to work for Master Harry Potter?"

"Won't the other elves do it?" Ginny asked.

"Other house-elfs stopped going to Master Harry Potter's school rooms because of nasty hidden hats. Dobby been having great honour of cleaning Master Harry Potter's school rooms by himself."

Hermione paled at Dobby's words.

Harry looked over at her and saw her expression. "Perhaps if you apologise to them and promise not to do it again they might return."

"I was just trying to help." She managed.

"You were trying to impose your view on them without their permission." Harry replied. "That strikes me as being about as bad as the enslavement they are currently under."

Hermione flushed in embarrassment.

"He has a point." Ginny added. "You can offer them the choice. You can't criticise their decision just because you don't like it. You never considered that they may have reached their choice fairly."

"House-elfs are house-elfs. House-elfs are not human. House-elfs like being treated with respect and kindness. House-elfs don't like being treated as human, or less than human." Dobby said. "Dobby spoke out of turn. Dobby is sorry. Bad Dobby."

Harry reached quickly and caught the elf before he started trying to hurt himself.

"Dobby this is an important and unbreakable rule." He stated firmly. "You will never and I mean NEVER try to hurt yourself. If you make a mistake you fix it. If you can't fix it then you may need to tell me about it. You will NEVER punish yourself for it. You will not let anyone else punish you or order you to punish yourself either. Besides, you made a valuable point."

"Dobby understands, Master Harry Potter Sir."

"Please just call me 'Harry' okay."

"Master Harry?" The large eyes looked up at him hopefully.

"If you insist and please relax."

"Yes Master Harry. What can Dobby be doing for you first?"

"Well, I was wondering if Winky needed a new family to work for?"

Dobby looked sad but hopeful. "Dobby is worried about Winky. Winky in a bad way since leaving her family. Dobby tries to help Winky but Winky not wanting help. Dobby does not think Winky be living long without Dobby. If Master Harry is willing to accept Winky, Master Harry may be saving Winky life."

"Why don't you go and see if she is willing to come here."

"Dobby thinks Winky will not be able to come here without Dobby to help." The house-elf muttered before vanishing.

"You are going to enslave her as well." Hermione asked.

"Yes he bloody well is." Ginny replied glaring at the older girl. "Not only is it what she wants it will save her life as well. Dobby made a valid point. He is a house-elf not a human. They have a different value system to us but it is just as real and important to them. Learn it before trying to change it."

"Alright." She relented. "I just don't like how they're treated."

"And I will support any law that punishes someone for abusing an elf." Harry told her firmly.

Hermione nodded but her reply was interrupted by Dobby's return with a bundle of dirty wet rags that he set on the floor in front of Harry.

"Winky? Master Harry would like to know if you want to serve him and his family?" Dobby spoke to the rags.

The rags stirred and a head became visible.

"Why would any wizard want a disgraced elf like me?" a sullen slurred voice emerged.

"Because he knows that you were dismissed unfairly and you did your best to follow the orders you had been given." Harry answered her gently. "I would like to know if the house-elf Winky would like to work for me."

"Winky would be a proper house-elf again?" The drunken elf finally showed some signs of life.

"Yes, if you want."

"Winky accepts. Winky wants to be Harry Potter's house-elf. Winky wants a family again."

"Excellent. First order; call me 'Harry', or Master Harry if you can't manage just plain Harry. Second order; you never punish yourself or let anyone punish you. Third order; please stop drinking and get yourself cleaned up."

"Dobby will help her. Where is Dobby and Winky to sleep?"

"There is an extension being built. There are several bedrooms on the second floor, please use one or two of them, your preference." Harry replied. "For now, you can use my room."

"Thank you Master Harry. One human bedroom is plenty of room for several house-elf bedrooms. One human wardrobe plenty of room for several house-elf bedrooms. Dobby understand Master Harry's request. Dobby will make sure the Dobby and Winky have plenty of room in which ever room we choose."

"Good. Get your things and relax for the moment. This afternoon is going to be busy with decorating. On Sunday you will be shown the rest of your duties."

"Dobby understands." The house-elf bowed and vanished with Winky.

"Poor Winky. She looked a mess." Ginny said sadly, looking at the floor where Winky had been slumped.

"Humans don't truly understand how frightening freedom really is. After how the Dursley's treated me, I wasn't sure how to act at Hogwarts. Because of the abuse I was happy to leave and learn how to be me, but it was a frightening experience for a while. If I hadn't been abused while they treated me like a slave, I might not have been able to adjust and returned to it." Harry said quietly.

"Harry?" Hermione spoke just as quietly, looking shocked.

"Sometimes the chains are nicer than being free. They can be easier to deal with." Harry turned and walked out. "I need to do some more training."

"You okay Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"No. I just had most of my beliefs shattered. Is it really possible that people would choose to be a slave?"

"Yes. Do you remember when we were persuading Tracy to swear the oath? Better a well treated slave bound to Harry than a badly treated slave bound to Tom. If you pick the right master, you could have a better life as a slave, much less complicated."

"I'm not sure I can believe it."

"You can. You just don't want to. I'm going to read outside and watch Harry train. You just stop and think; and put your own expectations aside for the moment."

Ginny grabbed a couple of books and followed Harry.

Hermione sank into a chair, lost in thought.

!HPEaSE!

Lictand interrupted Harry's training later that morning.

"The extension is ready if you wish to view it." He said.

"Certainly. I think it's time for me to stop anyway." Harry replied. "Ginny can you grab Hermione and her mother. They'll want to see this."

Ginny nodded and ran off while Harry followed the goblin to the new door inside the house.

The goblin opened the door revealing a large area, the door opening on the middle of the long wall with a matching door on the opposite wall. A large elegant fireplace with a pleasant fire flickering away was on the far left wall. A large shape in the shadows that inhabited the other end of the room caught Harry's attention.

"Is that..."

"Your basilisk? Yes. You just need to activate him so that he recognises you as his Master."

"How do I activate 'her'?" Harry only slightly stressed the feminine pronoun.

The goblin noticed the quiet correction. "Just tap her with your wand. Once she's active just give her orders."

Harry nodded and walked over, pulling his wand. With a gentle tap the giant snake skeleton shivered then smoothly started moving, lifting the huge head high above Harry as it looked down at him.

"Umm. Hello." Harry addressed the snake. "Your name is 'Sally'. You're to protect me and my friends and family. You will not hurt anyone unless they try to damage or destroy you or they are here to hurt us."

There was a pause, then the great skull nodded in understanding.

"Thank you, Sally." Harry gave a slight bow.

Sally gracefully returned it.

"Can you please show the others in?" Harry asked Lictand.

"Certainly Harry." The goblin opened the door he hadn't left, allowing the others to enter.

"Sally, there are my friends. Hermione, Ginny, Hermione's mother Emily, and Dobby and Winky, my house-elves. They are allowed to come and go as they please. As am I." Harry added as an afterthought.

Again the great skull nodded in understanding.

"Impressive." Emily looked nervously up at the giant snake.

Ginny wasn't faring so well as she gripped Hermione's arm.

"Ginny, not so tight please."

"Sorry Hermione." She managed in a tight whisper as she forced her grip to loosen. "Just a few bad memories."

Ginny forced herself to try and relax and followed Harry's cue. "Hello Sally."

The snake turned to face her and dipped her head in acknowledgement causing the red head to relax fully and allow a small smile to creep onto her face.

"Is the fireplace connected to the Floo Network?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. The address is 'Granger Sanctuary'. I hope you don't mind but I thought it appropriate." Lictand replied.

"Not all. That is a rather fitting name after all of the security that's been put in place."

"I'll need to owl it to the other girls. I'll give them the arrival time as well. I was thinking 9am and we can try and leave to go shopping before 10am." Harry suggested.

"Sounds good. Not too early. It'll give us some time to talk first." Hermione agreed.

"I'll them owl the later today. Shall we continue the tour?" Harry asked.

Lictand nodded and led the way to the opposite wall, opening the other door in the room and revealing a long, wide corridor.

"The rooms are unfurnished, as I have mentioned before. On the left side we have the special room, the store room and the three training rooms, duelling, exercise and gymnasium. Beyond them is the stair case to go upstairs. On the right side we have the lounge, the potions laboratory, the two large empty rooms and the swimming pool at the end."

Lictand walked to the end of the hall and waited at the foot of the stairs for the humans to finish looking in all the rooms. The inspected all the rooms except the Special Room, which was locked as Hermione found out when she succumbed to curiosity before Harry gently caught her elbow and led her away. The rooms were unfurnished but well prepared to begin their assigned role. They were all spacious and the windows had been charmed to look out over the neighbourhood or the property as they should from their relative positions.

"This is very nice." Harry complemented the goblin.

The others added their appreciation to Harry's as the moved down the corridor.

The last room they looked at was the swimming pool.

"All that's missing is a waterslide." Emily commented.

Hermione gave her mother a playful shove.

"Dobby could add a waterslide Miss Granger's mother wants?" Dobby paused then looked down. "If Miss Granger's mother tells Dobby what a waterslide is."

They laughed.

"Don't worry Dobby. We'll explain it to you later." Harry reassured the upset elf.

"Thank you Master Harry."

"Ready to see upstairs?" Lictand asked.

Receiving an affirmative reply he led them up to the next level.

The stairs opened out into a combined kitchen, dining and living area with plenty of room for couches and a large dining table.

"This room is should be obvious." Lictand commented with a small smile and moved to the door on the far side of the room, leading them back towards the original house.

Through the door was another long corridor.

"On the left is the study; on the right is the library. Beyond them are the bedrooms. Six identical ones on each side, each pair on the same side share a bathroom. At the far end is the master bedroom."

Hermione immediately disappeared into the library while Ginny looked into the study. Harry looked past them both before moving down to look at the first bedroom. He peered into the spacious room. Moving in he looked into the bathroom and then the wardrobe. He turned to leave and noticed that Emily had followed him.

"Think it's big enough?"

"I'm tempted to steal one for myself." Emily replied.

Harry laughed and walked out of the room and made his way to the master bedroom. Pushing the door open he stopped to stare and the massive room.

"I've changed my mind. I want this one." Emily said from where she was looking over his shoulder.

"I think this one's mine. The bed is kind of a giveaway." Harry replied.

And it was. The massive expanse of mattress would dwarf anyone who tried to use it. There would be plenty of room for Harry and the seven or eight others who may be joining him in the future.

Harry walked across the room and opened the first door. It revealed the wardrobe, a room larger than the bedroom he had just visited.

"Do you think this will be big enough?" Harry asked Emily.

"I think so. You need some shelves and racks though. You should add a few dressing tables and lots of sets of drawers too."

Leaving the wardrobe Harry opened what he assumed to be the bathroom door. He was correct as the swimming pool sized bath was revealed. There were several sinks, a couple of very large showers and several toilets off to the side of the door with partitions to give some privacy but it was the bath that was the dominating feature.

"Oh, look. Another swimming pool." Harry commented facetiously.

Emily laughed.

"Harry? Where are you?" Ginny's voice floated in.

"Master Bedroom." He called back.

Her voice sound again, much closer this time. "Wow. This room is huge, and so is that bed. Harry? Where are you?"

"Over here, Ginny." Harry waved from the bathroom door.

Ginny joined him and stared at the bath.

"You like my private swimming pool huh?" Harry teased her.

Ginny laughed.

"You know. Sharing a bath with a loved one is supposed to a nice romantic affair. A bath this size does really spoil the romance of sharing." Emily commented.

Harry and Ginny spun to face her, surprised by her comment. Their surprised showed.

"What?" Emily asked, shrugging. "It's supposed to be about being close to each other. How are you supposed to be close in a bath big enough to host an Olympic swimming event?"

"Cuddle in a corner?" Ginny replied.

Emily laughed.

"Umm. Right, I came to find you because I need help dragging Hermione from the library." Ginny changed the subject.

"But there aren't any books in there?" Harry was confused.

"That might have changed by now."

"Ah." Harry nodded, understanding dawning on him. "Let's go and drag her out before we lose her entirely."

Making their way back down the corridor they entered the library. Hermione just appeared to be moving aimlessly around the room but they could see her lips moving and realised she was planning out the entire layout of the room.

Harry grabbed one of her arms. "Come on. You can work on this room later."

"But I want to finish it now." Hermione protested.

"I'll have graduated before you finish this room." Ginny grabbed her other arm and helped Harry walk her out of the room.

Hermione protested all the way downstairs.

Lictand followed them back to the muggle lounge and sat with them. "I trust everything meets with your approval."

"Meets? You have far exceeded my expectations." Harry replied. "It's magnificent."

"I agree." Emily added. "It's going to be a lot of work to decorate it all though, plus the furniture you'll need."

"Will we have time to look for furniture while we are shopping tomorrow?"

"I doubt it. I think I can keep a day free next week, Wednesday probably. We can do the purchasing then. Until then we need to plan."

"Dobby?" Harry called, summoning the house-elf. "How much help can you and Winky be with decorating?"

"Dobby can paint and move furniture and hang curtains."

"What do we need to get you in order for you to do that?"

"House-elf magic can paint walls just fine. House-elf magic can only make curtains and furniture last a week." His ears drooped with the admission.

"That may be just fine." Emily interrupted. "Can you create temporary furniture based on a picture?"

"Dobby can do that."

"I'll get Daniel to get some furniture and decorating catalogues and drop them off while he's on his lunch break. We can trial furniture and curtains based on the pictures so that when we buy them we know exactly what to get."

"You'll be able to create some beds for us to sleep on tonight though?" Ginny asked the now bouncing house-elf.

"Dobby can do that easy." He said, excited at the prospect of being able to help.

"So we have somewhere to sleep tonight." Ginny commented.

"Yes, all you need to do is pick your bedrooms." Harry replied. "And the library is not an appropriate bedroom, Hermione."

Hermione glared at him.

Ginny stifled a laugh and took Hermione's arm. "Come on, let's pick our rooms. We can start planning out what we're going to do with them after lunch."

"I could use some help decorating my room." Harry said. "I don't know much about that sort of thing."

"We'll stop by later and give some advise on colour schemes for you." Ginny replied as she pushed Hermione out of the room.

"Thanks."

Harry turned back to Lictand as he remembered something. "Lictand, do you have a minute? I believe that there is something I need you to show me."

"I believe you are correct. After you Harry."

The two made their way to the master bedroom and Lictand showed Harry how to access the hidden study via both doors, the one in the hall and the one in the bedroom. Harry looked around the expanse of the hidden room in surprise.

"I know you said that a guy needed his space sometimes but this much?"

"You never know. You will want to keep all your private information in here. There is enough room to do some private training in here as well." Lictand replied.

Harry sighed. "Another room to decorate."

"I thought you were quite diplomatic, asking for your wives help with the bedroom."

"Not diplomatic, just clueless. I really don't know how to decorate. I've never done it before."

"I'm sure they will help you. And your female house-elf will probably be a good assistant with this sort of thing as well."

"Once she sobers up anyway." Harry sighed again.

Lictand laughed. "Cheer up. I'm sure that things aren't as bad as they seem."

"I hope your right."

!HPEaSE!

"Umm. Hermione? Can I ask you something?" Ginny asked tentatively.

"Sure Ginny. What is it?" Hermione replied.

"I know we've both had our own rooms for years now, but I have really enjoyed the times when you've stayed with me. And I've enjoyed staying with you, even with our embarrassing mornings."

"Yeah." Hermione blushed slightly but smiled.

"What I'm asking is, should we share a room?"

"You must have a reason for asking, go on."

"Well, as much as we want to help Harry, we are still married to him. One of the things we need to find out is if we are willing to be with him with each other and the other wives."

"So we share a room and see if we are okay living together. Okay. The rooms are certainly big enough, and there's plenty of wardrobe space."

"So which side you want and how should we decorate?"

"Well. If we put the beds at opposite ends of this wall, then we could put a couple of desks against that wall under the window."

"I like it. A book shelf would fit nicely over there, don't you think?"

!HPEaSE!

Lunch was a rushed affair that day. Emily and Hermione wanted to get started on the backyard and Ginny was looking forward to decorating. Harry was the only one who took his time. He was not looking forward to decorating.

"Dobby?" He called after the others had left.

"You called for Dobby, Master Harry?" The house-elf appeared. "Master Harry really should have let Dobby prepare lunch."

"Dobby is going to have to accept that there're times that Harry Potter is going to want to cook and just live with it." Harry replied.

"Yes, Master Harry." Dobby looked down.

"How 's Winky doing?"

"Much better Master Harry." Dobby perked up. "She will be ready to begin working in a couple of hours."

"I'm glad to hear she's doing better, but if she needs longer then she should take it."

"Dobby has anticipated Master Harry's generosity and forced Winky to take the extra hours rest. She is wanting to be beginning working immediately, but I thought it best that she rest." Dobby's ears drooped. "I is hoping that I did nothing wrong?"

"You did exactly the right thing. Thank you, Dobby. Is another couple of hours enough?"

"Yes Master Harry. More than enough. House-elfs heal very quickly when we have a good master."

"How good are you at decorating?"

"Dobby is good at doing what he is told." His ears drooped again. "Dobby's taste is not to wizard's liking. Winky is much better than Dobby."

"Okay. Why don't you help Ginny and Hermione then, Winky can help me later."

"Master Harry only seems to get wiser." Dobby praised then vanished.

Harry shook his head. "At least he's calmed down a bit."

Harry returned to his bedroom. He had a few letters to write. Finishing the letters he just needed Hedwig to wake up. All the letters were basically the same. Susan's had an extra note to coordinate the security detail her aunt had promised. Daphne's and Hannah's had an additional note regarding the basilisk parts their families were processing.

Hedwig perked up and flitted out of her cage, landing on the desk next to Harry.

"Hi Hedwig. I need you to deliver these letters and I really need you to ensure that no one but the intended recipient sees them, so you might need to take them one at a time."

Hedwig clipped him around the head with her wing at that suggestion.

"Or you can take as many at once as you want." Harry rubbed his head. "I really need these letters to be secret. You're the only owl who can pull this off."

Hedwig puffed up at the compliment and watched as Harry attached the letters, hooting comments to ensure that Harry had them attached to her liking and then with, a final good-bye hoot, she flitted out the window.

"Have a safe flight." Harry called after her.

He turned back to his reading until Winky was ready to work.

!HPEaSE!

Harry was looking around the master bedroom next to Winky. He had looked in on Ginny next door as she directed Dobby. She had only spared him a smile and a wave. It was a very happy smile though.

"What do you think Winky? Where do we start?"

Winky looked around and began waving her hands. The walls rapidly changed colours until Harry had to shut his eyes before he threw up.

"How is Master Harry liking this?" Winky asked.

Harry opened his eyes and looked around. The three of the walls were a very pale, soft and relaxing light grey with a hint of another colour that he couldn't identify but it was the wall with the door to the corridor that was the attention grabber it was a deep emerald green.

"I like it. It looks really good. What's next?" Harry complemented.

"The wardrobe." Winky said as she blushed slightly from the complement.

!HPEaSE!

Hermione didn't come in from the garden until late in the afternoon, but she came in happy.

"Harry? Ginny?" She called into the neighbouring bedrooms. "You have to come and see this."

The two Gryffindors poked their heads through their doorways and were immediately grabbed. Hermione dragged her friends down the corridor through the living room and down the stairs. From there it was along the downstairs corridor, through the lounge and outside.

Harry and Ginny gaped. The backyard was transformed. And expanse of grass extended away from the house. Next to the house was a swimming pool bordered by a paved area. The paving stones covered most of the area between the pool and the house. On the far side of the garden some tall hedges stood proudly with a gravel path disappearing in between them. Several flowers bed could be seen against the fence line.

"It looks wonderful, Hermione." Ginny looked around the garden in admiration.

"Yeah. I like it." Harry agreed.

"Come on. I want to show you something. I did this bit personally." Hermione said excitedly and ran off towards the hedges.

Harry and Ginny exchanged a glance and ran after her. They slowed as they reached them. The tall hedges easily reached above their heads. Scrunching down the gravel path they looked up at the hedges. The path was bordered by tall hedges. The outer edge was just a straight line. The inner hedge was actually a square with a gap midway down the path they were walking allowing Harry and Ginny to enter the central area.

The central area was nicely paved with a small fountain that had a statue of a griffin gently burbling water in the centre and a few small flowerbeds around the edges. Hermione stood there turning on the spot with outstretched arms as she showed it off.

"What do you think?" Hermione really wanted her friends to approve. "We can come out here and study on nice days."

Harry looked around the courtyard. "We'll need the right furniture but that would be really nice. This is wonderful."

"Yeah." Ginny agreed. "It's going to be really nice studying out here. Much better than being stuck inside all day."

"That was my thought." Hermione's smile was from ear to ear as her friends approved of her idea.

"Oh." Ginny remembered. "I need you to have a look at our bedroom, see what you think."

"'Our bedroom?' Are you two sharing?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, we're giving it a try. See if we can stand being around each other for long periods of time." Ginny answered.

"Okay. Any particular reason?"

"Well, if we are going to share you as a husband then we need to be okay with each other."

"Ah. Are you two really thinking about that?"

"Sort of. We know it's there but we aren't really worrying about it just yet." Ginny shrugged. "We'll worry about it later when we know more about how we feel about it, you and each other."

Harry nodded as they crunched back down the gravel path. "This must be really hard for you both. Married to someone along with several other girls by mistake? Me no less. I don't know how you both are still even talking to me."

"Very easily." Ginny grabbed his arm and pulled him round to face her. "Very easily. This situation is less than desirable, married to you by mistake, and with several other girls? No, it's not the ideal situation at all. But this is not your fault. We made the oaths, not you. I'm not against staying married to you; I just need to know if I can handle the situation." She smiled at him tenderly. "It's just a lot to take in."

"Same here Harry." Hermione added. "You don't need to worry about us over this. You just need to be happy and be our friend. Let what happens next just happen. Now come on. I want to see what you two have been up to."

Hermione led the way back to their new bedrooms and looked around the master bedroom in wonder.

"I like it. The green matches your eyes. It shows whose room it is. Who chose the colour scheme?"

"Winky. I just asked for her opinion." Harry replied honestly.

"I thought it might be something like that." Hermione grinned at him. "What's next?"

"The wardrobe, bathroom and maybe something else..." He finished mysteriously.

"Something else?" Ginny looked at Harry, hands on hips. "You had better show us, Harry. You can't say something like that and leave us hanging."

"Okay. I will." Harry assured her as they followed Hermione into the wardrobe. "But later."

"This place is great. It will need some clothes racks but I like it." Hermione looked around.

"Wait till you see the bathroom." Ginny said.

"You've see it already?" Hermione looked sad.

"Not since it was decorated. I looked in while you were obsessing over the library."

"Ah. Um." Hermione looked a little embarrassed. "Okay."

They moved to the next room and let Hermione stare at the giant bathtub, now surrounded by the nicely patterned tiles.

"It's bigger than the one in the prefect's bathroom at Hogwarts." Hermione mentioned absently through her astonishment.

"So it is. Hadn't thought about that." Harry commented absently.

"So what is your little surprise?" Ginny asked Harry as she admired the room's new look.

"Come on, I'll show you."

Harry led them back into the bedroom and past the main door and opened the hidden door to his study.

"Lictand added this room as a private study for me." He said as he led the way into the room.

"I don't remember it on the plans." Hermione commented as she looked around.

"I don't think Lictand intended for me to share it with you. But I don't like keeping secrets like this unless I have too."

"That's nice of you, sharing this with us. And this is a nice room."

And it was. The walls had been panelled in wood. One end of the room had a desk and shelving. In the middle held a couple of couches and a small table. The other end of the room was an open space.

"What are you going to put there? Or are you waiting for inspiration?" Ginny asked pointing at the open space.

"I was going to leave it empty. Lictand mentioned I could have a private training area in here so..." Harry shrugged. "A light safety ward to keep things in. I find my kata's very relaxing and if I am working through business documents all day I'll need a break to relax."

"Fair enough. Just don't lose control and destroy everything in here."

"I like it too, Harry." Hermione complemented. "Winky has very good taste."

"Yes she does." Harry refused to respond to the teasing. "Let's go look at your room."

Harry led them out the other door into the corridor and into the room Hermione and Ginny had chosen.

Hermione looked around the room. "I like what you've done, Ginny. I think some of the shades could be a little different but it's a brilliant start."

"Thanks. I did my best but I knew you needed to put your own touch on it too." Ginny replied.

"You did wonderfully, I really like it. Let's continue, where are those catalogues?"

!HPEaSE!

Daphne was one of many of the girls who were surprised by their feathered visitor. Luna wasn't, but that's just Luna. Daphne had walked into her bedroom and paused. She was sure she wasn't alone. A soft hoot called her attention to the top of her free standing cupboard and the small feathered form peeking out from between a couple of boxes. The owl pushed forward and glided to the chair in front of her and held out her leg.

Daphne sorted through the letters attached to the offered leg and retrieved her own. She noted the other names; Harry was obviously sending a letter to everyone.

"Hello. Hedwig isn't it?" She said offering the owl a treat.

Hedwig hooted affirmatively.

"Did Harry ask you to keep this hidden?"

Another affirmative hoot.

"You are doing very well. Good luck on your next trip."

Hedwig hooted happily and fluffed her feathers proudly before she flew out the window.

Daphne watched the owl flit from tree to tree and was surprise by how quickly the impressive owl managed to disappear. She kept watching for about ten minutes but never saw the white owl leave the forest for her next destination.

Opening the letter she smiled and nodded to herself. She had been expecting this letter, although she had thought it would come yesterday. Reading through the letter she left her room. She needed to have a couple words with her father, hopefully without her mother present.

He was in the study, as expected.

"Hello, father. I've just received a letter from Harry. He would like his bill tomorrow. I'll be leaving to see him tomorrow at 9am."

"I can try to arrange that." He replied. "Interesting, I didn't see an owl arrive."

"Hedwig, Harry's owl, came directly to my room. I think Harry ordered her be stay hidden."

"Impressive. I didn't think an owl could achieve that."

"Harry's owl is impressive. I think she's more Harry's familiar than his pet."

"A familiar? At his age? I can see I need to meet him personally. I need to thank him for his generous ward upgrades if nothing else. As surprising as that was, it did allow me to learn the identity of your new friend."

"Yeah, yeah. You weaselled it out of me." Daphne grumped.

"Now daughter; that is no way to behave to your father." He smiled at her.

Daphne just huffed and walked out.

Her mother visited her in her bedroom about half an hour later.

"I understand you are visiting your friend Harry Potter tomorrow."

"Yes mother. There are a few things we need to talk about."

"Anything interesting that you can share? How is he coping with his... unfortunate alteration?"

"I don't know. He didn't mention anything in his letter."

"Where is he staying? Are they looking after him properly? He could stay here. I would like to meet him. Would it be possible to join you tomorrow?"

Daphne panicked and strived to keep it out of her expression and voice. "I don't think so. It's just us girls tomorrow. Us girls and Harry anyway."

"Why? Are you doing something that you don't want your darling mother to find out about? Something naughty perhaps." Her mother probed.

"Of course we aren't doing anything naughty." Daphne protested.

"So just something you don't want me to find out about." She tapped her lips. "What could you be doing with a bunch of girls and a boy who has just been turned into a girl. Hmmm. If I just changed gender what would I need to do? I know, go shopping!"

She turned a disapproving look on her daughter. "You were trying to have a shopping trip without your dear mother. How do you think that would make me feel? You know that I am the best person to go shopping with."

"We are going shopping in the muggle world. I don't think you will like it." Daphne replied, sagging in depression.

"Well, now I know there is a shopping trip. Why would I not want to visit the muggle world? It would be nice to look at something different for a change. I had better get to Gringotts quickly; I need to change some money." She left the room.

"They are so going to kill me." Daphne muttered dropping her head into her hands.

!HPEaSE!

Dinner in the Granger household was an excited affair as Emily and Hermione tried to describe their efforts to Daniel, who listen avidly trying to visualise their descriptions. He gave up eventually and requested that they wait until they could show him.

Hermione fell silent, deep in thought. "Harry? I know you wanted to go to Diagon Alley and Gringotts on Sunday but perhaps you should put it off until later in the week. The girl's parents are going to want to meet you when they find out that you are married to their daughters. We can get the girls to help decorate the other rooms as well. A view into the higher class wizarding world may be useful. No offence Ginny."

"No, its fine. My family doesn't really travel in the circles that Harry will need to." Ginny shrugged.

"Are you all set for tonight?" Daniel asked.

"Yes." Hermione answered. "We haven't finished moving my things but we can sleep there from now on. I will move the rest of my things when we get our furniture, later this week."

"I trust you will enjoy yourselves." Daniel smiled at his daughter.

"I think we will." Hermione smiled back.

A chime sounded through the house.

"Is there someone at the door? At this hour?" Daniel started to rise from the table.

"No." Harry corrected as he rose. "That was the Entrance Hall in the new extension."

He ran to the new door and opened it. Stepping in he saw Sally towering over a very nervous Amelia Bones.

"It's okay Sally. This is Amelia Bones, she's a friend."

Sally looked back at Harry and nodded. Looking at Amelia again she bowed and retreated to the far end of the room.

"I didn't expect you today, Madam Bones. What can I do for you?"

"I brought a draft of the press releases about the donations and warding fund." Amelia took a deep breath. "That's a very different experience to just seeing lying on the ground."

Harry gasped. "I forgot completely about the press releases, I'm so sorry."

Amelia smiled. "I thought you might. It's alright, you've been busy. If the release is alright I can send it to the Daily Prophet tonight for the morning paper. I think it'll be more effective tomorrow. More people will be able to take advantage of the offer boosting its effectiveness."

Harry nodded. "We were just eating dinner but this is a worthy interruption. If you will follow me to the lounge, we can grab Hermione and Ginny to help."

Harry led Amelia to the lounge and poked his head into the dining room. "Hermione. We forgot about the press releases. Amelia is here to confirm them so that they can go to the Profit. You want to join us Ginny?"

Hermione gasped and shot out of her chair. "I can't believe that I forgot. She must be so disappointed."

"No, she knew how busy we were."

"Sorry, Mum, Dad. We need to sort this out now. It shouldn't take too long."

"Wait up. Excuse me." Ginny rose and made her apologies to Hermione parents and followed her two friends out of the room.

They all read through the words that Amelia had compiled and made only a few alterations.

"I think we have it. Simple, informative with an attention grabbing headline." Hermione said as she looked over the finished work.

"I think we've got it as well." Ginny added.

"Then we have a consensus." Harry finished. "Thank you Madam Bones. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this."

"That's quite alright Harry." Amelia reassured him. "I thought that it may have fallen to the wayside with everything else you had on your plate. Well since we are in agreement I'll send this to the Daily Profit. I heard you had sent the invitations to the girls. Susan was quite excited, if rather surprised by your owl sneaking up on her. I hope you don't mind that I got your floo address from her?"

"Not a problem. I asked Hedwig to keep her travels as quiet as possible." Harry replied with a grin. "I wondered if there would be a few shocked girls at her arrival."

Amelia laughed. "You asked the girls to arrive at 9am. What time do you want your escort to arrive?"

"I was hoping to leave by 10am."

Amelia nodded. "I'll have them arrive at 9:30 with a Ministry Car. That should ensure your comfort and safety. Well, I must be off. I will be in touch. Good evening Harry, Hermione, Ginny."

"Good evening Madam Bones." They chorused back.

"Allow me show you out." Harry escorted Amelia back to the entrance hall and the fireplace.

"I hope you enjoy your trip tomorrow. I wish I could come but I will be too busy with everything you have put in motion. I will assign Senior Auror Shacklebolt and Auror's Tonks and Jones. I believe you are familiar with them."

"Yes. Aren't you concerned about how close to Dumbledore they are?" Harry was confused.

"That is why I chose them. If they betray their Auror oaths and reveal your actions as a VIW to Albus then I will know I cannot trust them completely but the risk to you will be negligible."

"I see, you're testing them."

"Correct. I have no concerns that you will be betrayed to your death. Albus is another matter, particularly in regards to you. Kingsley has the potential to replace me if I become the Minister, but only if I can trust him."

"I understand. I hope he passes."

"So do I. Enough of that." She shook herself free of the depressing mood. "I have some good news as well. The ward against the Dark Mark is finished. Tapstone was surprised by its simplicity and is including it in the warding package being offered through the Fund you set up. It has already been setup around Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, St Mungo's and the Ministry. The Auror's have caught a couple of Death Eater's already, though we're keeping it quiet. As soon as it becomes known, it becomes less effective."

"Yes, very true. I'm glad to hear it. That is truly brilliant news. I'll let you go. I know how busy you are."

"Thank you. I hope you enjoy your trip tomorrow. Get a good night's sleep, you'll need it."

"Thanks. I appreciate it. See you." Harry waved to Amelia as she left through the floo.

Returning to the others, Harry retook his place at the dining table.

"Well that's that taken care of. I think there'll be a few shocked people when they read the morning paper."

"Really? Why? What will it say?" Daniel asked.

"It'll just have the press releases for the donations to St Mungo's, the DMLE and the Potter Gringotts Defence Fund." Harry replied nonchalantly as he fed another forkful of food in to his mouth.

"All three at once? Is that wise? I thought you were going to separate them?"

"Wise or not, that is what must happen. We need to progress quickly. Madam Bones is on top of things in the Ministry though."

"Is it really fair to leave that in her hands? She is very busy."

"Maybe not but she is the person who'll be most affected. She needs to control the timing to ensure that everything is as effective as possible." Harry explained. "Both to achieve our aims and for the benefit of the people we are trying to help."

"I understand." Daniel nodded. "You are going to help her aren't you?"

"Of course." Harry was surprised he needed to ask. "I intend to support her fully; I just need to know what she wants me to do. I imagine that I will need to make a new press release or speak to the Wizengamot on her behalf. She will let me know when and what I need to do." Harry finished with a shrug. He knew that Madam Bones knew what she was doing.

"I think one of the things she needs to do is ensure she can completely trust her successor."

Hermione looked at him surprise. "You had better explain that remark, Harry."

"Madam Bones wants Shacklebolt to replace her if she becomes Minister but she feels that he is too close to Dumbledore. She has assigned him as a guard for our trip tomorrow as a test."

"How will that test him?" Ginny asked.

"Madam Bones has assigned me VIW status. If he tells Dumbledore about our activities tomorrow she will know that he is too close to Dumbledore for her to trust him as fully as she requires, given the position he will take up."

"I know that he'll be the Head of the DMLE and I know that's a big role but I feel I'm missing something." Ginny was a little confused.

"It's probably the million galleon donation to the DMLE and the upcoming battle against Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

"Oh. That." Ginny replied faintly. "Yeah, I suppose that is a rather large deal to pass on to just anyone."

"Exactly. Come on, we need an early night tonight." Harry turned back to his dinner.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

The Traffic section of the user pages is interesting. Particularly after you post some new chapters. Over 4000 visits that day alone, quite the ego boost. I wonder what my first day count will be this time.

As too the how long it's taken me to post this chapter, I was unsure about the shopping trip, I still am to an extent but I am happier than I was. I also blame germandragon for introducing me to the webcomic Misfile by Chris Hazelton. I started reading it last week and could stop, to the point of having reread already, all 1300+ pages.

I hope this chapter is enjoyable, even with the many mistakes I'm sure to have made.

**Chapter 10**

Harry was feeling particularly grumpy. He was waiting on one of the several couches Dobby had conjured that morning in anticipation of the morning arrivals. He was dressed in an outfit Hermione and Ginny had picked out for him while he went for his run and stood outside the room while he dressed after his shower to ensure he wore it.

Hermione and Ginny bounced into the room about five minutes before 9am.

"How are you feeling, Harry?" Ginny asked as she sat next to him.

"Drafty and exposed." He grumbled back.

He had been forced into a knee length skirt and a singlet. He, for the first time, really looked like a girl and was feeling very uncomfortable and that was the least of the indignities he had suffered this morning. He had also been introduced to shaving charms and been forced to practice them until his legs were completely bare. He now sat in silence, ignoring the two girls' attempts at engaging him in conversation.

"We're really sorry about this but while you're a girl you need to look the part in public." Hermione apologised.

Harry merely grunted. Yes he understood their reasoning and the situation, but it didn't mean he had to like it.

The fireplace flared and disgorged a pair of familiar figures. Susan and Hannah waved to their friends and joined them on the couches.

"How have you all been?" Hannah opened the conversation.

"Good. Yourselves?" Ginny responded.

"We've been fine. Busy but fine. I have those notes you wanted on the oath we took and some others that I think will be useful." Susan handed the notes over to Hermione.

"Thanks." Hermione set them down next to her. "I'll look at them later."

"So this is your place, huh?" Hannah looked around. "Not what I expected."

"Actually this isn't my home." Hermione replied.

Hannah and Susan looked surprised.

"But the floo address?" Hannah questioned.

"Is correct. My home's through that door over there. This room is the entrance hall to an extension that Harry got the goblins to build. The rest of it's through the other door." Hermione indicated the other door in turn.

Harry shot to his feet. "I need to introduce you to Sally."

"Who's Sally?" Susan asked.

"Sally." Harry called. I want you to meet Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott. They are allowed to visit whenever they want. "

Hannah and Susan looked in the direction that Harry was speaking, trying to see into the shadows. They fell back in shock as a large shadow emerged and resolved into a large skeletal snake. The snake appeared to stare at the two Hufflepuff girls intently before rising up and then dipping its head in an unmistakeable bow. The snake then retreated back into the shadows.

Susan gulped. "So that's what happened to it. Tapstone's handiwork is impressive."

"You knew about this?" Hannah looked at her friend in surprise.

"I remember them talking about it at Gringotts. It's a little different in person than just listening to people talk about it." Susan turned to Harry. "How did you manage to face that thing down?"

"I didn't have a choice." Harry glanced at Ginny, his meaning unmistakable.

Susan nodded but further discussion was interrupted as the floo flared again.

First Luna, then Padma and Tracy stepped out of the fireplace less than a minute apart.

"Morning ladies, if you step this way, we just need to wait for Daphne." Harry invited the girls to the couches. "While we are waiting I need to introduce you to someone."

Harry faced the shadows at the fare end of the room. "Sally? I need to introduce you to some more friends. These are Tracy Davis, Padma Patil and Luna Lovegood. They can come and go as they please."

Tracy and Padma shared a glance and looked back at the shadows then gasped and stepped back as a massive shape loomed out of the darkness.

'Sally' slid forward and inspected the three girls before bowing in acknowledgement to them.

Luna wasn't frightened by the massive skeletal snake, in fact quite the opposite. She stepped forward and extended a hand to pat the massive skull. The snake lowered its head to receive the pat graciously then retreated once again.

"I like her." Luna announced simply and took a seat.

"Daphne's late." Hermione commented as she looked at her watch. "Tracy, do you know what might be keeping her?"

"No. I haven't heard anything from her." Tracy replied shakily, still watching the shadows that concealed the giant guardian.

"I don't mind that she's late." Susan was suddenly nervous at the information she would have to share when the last girl arrived.

"Why?" Tracy asked.

"No reason." Susan clammed up.

"You're looking very pretty today sis." Luna spoke up finally. She had been looking Harry over.

"Hermione and Ginny forced me to wear this." Harry returned to his grumpy mood.

"We're going out into the muggle world so he needed to look the part." Hermione explained. "I think we might need to adjust some of your outfits as well." She added looking the others over.

"I expected something like that." Tracy commented. "I also expected you to have planned ahead on that score."

"Of course she has." Ginny teased her fellow Gryffindor.

The laughter was interrupted by another flare form the fireplace and Daphne came into view.

"I'm really sorry. I tried, I honestly tried but she knew. I don't know how but she knew." Daphne was nearly babbling as she tried to apologise.

The others were confused by this, all except Tracy.

"Oh no. She's not. Please tell me she's not." Tracy exclaimed.

Daphne didn't get a chance to reply as the floo flared once again and an elegant older lady in fine robes step out.

"Hello everyone." The stranger spoke in greeting.

"Hello, Lady Greengrass." Tracy replied.

'Hello, Tracy. How are you today?"

"Good thank you."

"I'm glad to hear it. Come on Daphne; introduce me to your friends."

"These are Susan Bones, Hannah Abbot, Padma Patil, Luna Lovegood, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter." Daphne indicated each in turn.

"An interesting collection of friends. How are you coping with your recent changes Mr Potter?"

"Harry, please. I'm coping. It's was getting easier until this morning when Hermione and Ginny forced me into this getup." Harry replied.

"And here I was thinking you had selected a very pretty outfit for yourself. I see the complements should be address to Miss Weasley and Miss Granger."

"May I enquire as to why we are being graced with your presence this morning?" Harry asked.

"I understand you are going shopping this morning; I thought I might offer you my expert advice."

"Actually, she just wanted to come shopping." Daphne interjected.

"Behave yourself young lady." Her mother scolded. "That was rude."

"But entirely accurate." Daphne shrugged unconcerned.

"I didn't realise that you were familiar with muggle fashion trends." Hermione commented.

"Fashion is fashion. How much different can it be?" Lady Greengrass didn't appear concerned.

"We're about to find out. Let me introduce you to my mother. She'll be coming with us as well." Hermione said as she stood.

Hermione was about to escort her out when Harry stopped her.

"I need to introduce them to Sally first." He said as he stood and waved towards the shadows summoning the massive skeletal snake again.

Daphne was surprised and more than a little afraid of the snake but her mother turned sheer white and caught her daughter's arm for balance.

"Sally this is Daphne Greengrass, she is allowed to come and go as she pleases, and this is her mother." Harry introduced the two members Greengrass family.

Sally looked them over and bowed before retreating to the shadows once again.

"Coming?" Hermione asked Lady Greengrass.

"Uh. Okay." Lady Greengrass managed weakly, all composure lost as she stumbled after Hermione.

"Sit here, Daphne." Harry patted the seat next to him.

Daphne stumbled in to the seat next to him. "I thought it was scary just lying on the ground, it's nothing like when it looms over you. How did you kill it?"

"I didn't have a choice." Harry shrugged. "Anyway. Susan has some information she needs to share."

"Oh, so do I. I found out what the diary was and have a whole lot of information on it. It was something totally evil and it's how he stayed alive all this time." Daphne remembered and dug in her purse for the parchments she had written out.

"That's great. We'll go through it later. Susan?" Harry said as he accepted the parchments.

"Um. Okay. I have some rather shocking news for everyone." Susan started tentatively.

"Should we wait for Hermione?" Padma asked.

"She already knows. She was with Harry and me when we found out." Susan shook her head.

"We are not going to like this are we?" Tracy looked directly at Susan.

"Probably not. Before I tell you, you should know that it is not permanent. Not unless we want it to be. You all should remember that after I tell you." Susan paused to take a deep breath.

"The oath we took is recognised as a marriage contract. We have all effectively married Harry." Susan shrunk back into her seat.

The girls sat in a shocked silence until Tracy broke it.

"I knew it. I knew it. What the hell is going to happen to us now?" She shouted at Susan.

"Take it easy Tracy." Harry tried to calm her. "She didn't know. If you want out just say so."

"You think that will matter to most of the pure-bloods out there? If they find out that we have been married to someone before them, regardless of how, that's it, they'll walk away. My father was hoping to make a good match for me for the family."

"I maybe able to help, if you want. What does he consider a good match?" Harry asked.

"Good family, good income, good reputation. Hopefully titled." Tracy was curious now.

"So someone with a title to throw away will appeal to him."

"How do you mean 'throw away'?"

"You don't marry a person for their title; the Davis family gets a title of their own."

"That would be wonderful but who would or could do that." Tracy trailed off and suddenly stared Harry down. "Talk. What have you got up your sleeve?"

Harry looked at his bare arms in faked confusion. "Thanks to Hermione and Ginny I don't have sleeves at the moment."

"Talk before I hex you." Tracy growled, reaching for her wand.

"Okay, calm down. I picked up the Black, Malfoy and Lestrange family titles when I went to Gringotts." Harry shrugged, unconcerned by his revelation.

"Black, Malfoy and Lestrange? How the hell did you pull that off?" Hannah blurted out.

"My godfather, Sirius Black, willed everything to me and he was the heir to the family. Since he was both innocent and never given a trial Gringotts determined his will to be valid. The Lestrange family all spent time in Azkaban so they had no one to inherit and the Malfoy's are either dead or in Azkaban."

"What about Draco? He would inherit the Malfoy title and would probably be first in line for the Lestrange and Black family titles?" Tracy asked.

"Dead. He tried to kill me in Gringotts in front of about four senior goblins and Madam Bones." Harry looked a little uncomfortable at the memory.

"That was stupid." Tracy looked shocked.

"Unbelievably." Susan replied. "He tried to make a play for the Potter family title as well, stating that since Harry was a now girl he was no longer eligible. The goblins tested him and found that he is still sufficiently male to inherit any and all of the titles. They also said they because Draco was involved in his transformation and was challenging him on the Black and Potter inheritance's he ran afoul of an inheritance law and was excluded from both of those families and the families through those. Which is how he lost the Lestrange family."

"He must have been angry." Daphne commented.

"He cast the Killing Curse at Harry. " Susan replied. "Yes, he was angry."

"So, that's why he did it." Tracy said. "I'm glad he missed."

Susan shivered at the memory. "He didn't miss. Harry managed to throw his chair in the way and used a shield to block the debris."

"Very impressive Harry. Now, back to the topic in hand, if Harry is willing to give a title away and everything that goes with it, my father will be more accepting." Tracy said. "How about the rest of you?"

"My father will be pleased." Daphne said. "He wants an alliance with the Potter family."

"My father going to be so angry." Padma said, silent tears streaming down her face. "He's been planning who I'm to marry for some time."

"An arranged marriage?" Harry asked. "How common is that in the wizarding world?"

"Mostly it's only the higher class pure-blood families." Susan answered. "The ones who seek to preserve blood lines or advance their families status."

"It's common amongst the higher class families in India." Padma added. "My father didn't consider anyone in Britain to be worth of taking over the family so he trying to make a deal with a family back in India."

"What sort of deal?" Daphne asked.

"He wants to try and keep our family line separate. So far the best offer he had received is two hundred thousand galleons and the second son carrying on the Patil line."

"What happens if you don't have a second son?" Harry asked.

"Then the lines become merged. But they have agreed to keep trying for a second son for as long as I'm willing and able."

"So how many tries before you stop being willing?" Hannah asked.

Padma shrugged.

"What do you know about the family?" Harry asked.

"Not a lot. They are good business people but a bit ruthless and arrogant. They have worse views on women than my father."

"That doesn't sound very nice. What would happen if something happened to you?"

Padma gasped. "You're suggesting that they do something to prevent me from having a second son?"

"Yeah, maybe. I'm not sure." Harry shrugged.

"I don't know. I don't know much about the family but they are willing to pay two hundred thousand. That's a lot of money to pay out just for my family's title."

"Yeah but if they merge your families, they get their money back don't they. Not that much risk." Harry noted.

Padma looked shocked. "You're right. Father is a very good businessman, they would get more money back, there's no risk to them at all. I didn't like this before but I really don't like this now."

"I may be able to help." Harry tried to reassure her. "If you want me too."

"You've already done heaps. By being married to you, the deal won't go through. My father will probably disown me and continue the deal with Parvati." Padma snapped, growing angry.

"I'm sorry." Harry slumped.

"Well stop being sorry and start helping." Padma nearly yelled at him.

"Take it easy, Padma." Ginny intervened. "He didn't know about this either."

"I know, I know." Padma took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Harry. But I need a solution. I can't tell my father but I have to tell him before he finds out. If he tries to complete the deal while I am bound to you it will fail. If anyone finds out that I have been married in any way he will disown me."

"What if you came to him with a better deal?" Harry asked.

"You could do that?" Padma gasped.

"The money isn't a big issue and I can promise that any and all of your children can continue the Patil line. And if memory serves... Susan, didn't you aunt mention that Padma's father wanted a seat on the Wizengamot?"

Susan thought for a minute. "Yes she did. Are you going to sponsor him?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "He might like that. Something to sweeten the deal."

Padma looked hopeful. "You'd do that for me? That might just save me. He may want more money 'for his troubles'."

"I think we are jumping the gun a little." Harry said. "All this will be conditional on us getting along. I'm not forcing anyone into a marriage when we aren't getting along or if we don't want to. I mean that, all of you. I may have titles and money to burn but please don't think I'm trying to buy any of you because I'm not. I just want everyone to be happy."

"You have a slightly idealistic view of how pure-blood politics work; although I'm sure we all appreciate your sentiment and honesty." Daphne commented. "If our Head of family says marry this person, you marry this person and hope you can get along okay."

"That's not right." Harry protested.

"It's how it works." Daphne replied. "The wizarding world is too small and too resistant to change. Tracy and I never expected to have a choice about who we would marry. I expect Padma was the same. Hannah, Susan, Luna?"

"My aunt is all for this marriage but she has been really nice and left the final decision up to us." Susan replied.

"My parents never brought the topic up. I always hoped to marry for love." Hannah spoke up. "That having been said, Harry is quite a catch." She looked him over and shrugged. "When he was a guy at least."

Luna didn't respond, she just looked really sad.

"Are you okay, Luna?" Ginny asked.

Luna nodded, but didn't look up.

"Its okay, Luna, little sis. You say the word and I'll release you so you can date Neville. I'll have to give him the big brother talk though."

Luna looked up sharply age stared at Harry. "Really? You'll be my big sister? Always?"

Harry's nod was all she needed. Luna launched herself across the space between the couches and grabbed Harry in a hug, burying her face into Harry's chest as sobs over came her.

"Thank you, Harry." She mumbled into his top. "Thank you for being my sister."

"You're welcome, Luna." Harry rubbed her back gently. "Little sister. I wonder if my parents would have had more children if they'd had the chance."

"Don't think on it too much, Harry." Daphne said softly. "It will only upset you. It was tragic but you can't dwell on it."

"I know." Harry took a deep breath. "I don't normally."

They sat in silence for a minute with Luna still in Harry's lap calming slowly from her emotional outbreak.

"This is an interesting room." Daphne tried to change the topic. "I didn't expect it from a muggle home."

"Actually this is an extension that the goblins built on to Hermione's house. They only finished it yesterday. We'll give you all a tour when Hermione get's back. It's not all finished but you'll get the idea."

"They will get what idea." Hermione asked as she came back. "What did I miss? And why is Luna in Harry's lap?"

"Lets see... Susan broke the news about us all being married. There were a few upset people but Harry managed to calm them. Luna is really happy to remain Harry's little sister and we were waiting for you to get back so we could start the grand tour." Ginny summarised the events.

"Okay. Let's go." Hermione started towards the far door.

"Hang on, Hermione. Let me get started. Everyone, this is the Entrance Hall. It connects Hermione's house with the extension that the goblin's built. It has the floo connection, this meeting area and the guardian, Sally, whom you have all met."

Harry followed Hermione out and showed each of the rooms on the ground floor except the Special Room. They were all impressed with the layout and facilities provided. The potions lab and indoor pool got the most attention though. The missed room was noticed by Susan who questioned it.

"Harry? What's behind that door? You missed it. It's not the Quidditch pitch is it? I remember that you wanted one."

"That room isn't finished yet. It's been a special project for me and Lictand the Head of the Gringotts Construction Department. It should be ready for viewing tomorrow. I think it will be safe to say that you will all be very impressed." Harry grinned. "Come on, the upstairs is next."

He showed them the upstairs rooms, the living area, the library, the study and, with Ginny's and Hermione's permission, he opened the door into their bedroom and let them look before opening up the Master Bedroom.

"And finally this is the Master Bedroom. The wardrobe is over there and bathroom is next to it. Feel free to look around." Harry finished the tour.

The girls had been impressed with the whole extension and were very impressed by the Master Bedroom. Harry waited by the door with Ginny and Hermione as the other girls looked around. Nearly all of them actually tried the bed to their amusement.

"I can almost see them planning how they will fit themselves into this room." Harry chuckled as he watched Daphne bounce on the bed a little to try it out.

Ginny and Hermione laughed with him.

"Very funny." Daphne commented as she got off the bed. "This is a lot of work and must have cost a lot. Can I ask why? You aren't planning on living here after we graduate are you?"

"May be for a little while, if I'm allowed." Harry looked at Hermione who was nodding happily. "But there is the war to consider. If things turn bad we will need safe havens to hide and train in. If we start losing this fight then this extension will become critical in the fight back. Come tomorrow it will have probably the best training facilities on the planet and can serve as a stronghold from which we can keep fighting back." Harry paused in his explanation. "I just hope we don't need it."

"You're not the only one." Daphne shuddered and wasn't the only one.

Hermione and Ginny both shuddered at the thought.

"I agree." Hermione said quietly. "But I'm glad you're thinking ahead. I suppose we can expand out into your other properties if we need to later. But why here?"

"Because we needed this now and I was coming here and..." Harry trailed off before finishing quietly, "I didn't want to be alone. I'm sorry if I'm taking liberties with your home."

"Don't worry. You deserve a happy home life more than anyone." Hermione hugged him.

Daphne gave him a brief hug before stepping back to let Ginny take her place and excused herself. "I'll just finish looking around." She headed over to the wardrobe to join the other girls.

All the girls came out of the wardrobe with approving expressions but the real shocker was the bathroom. They were all very impressed by it.

"I just had an idea." Hermione smiled having managed to shake off the previous mood. "If we get some sleeping bags we could use Harry's bed for a slumber party."

"What's a slumber party?" Ginny asked.

"It's where a group of girls gather at one of their friends houses to spend the night. It's supposed to be a lot of fun."

"Supposed to be? You don't know?"

"I was never invited." Hermione admitted sadly. "But I heard the girls at school taking about them and they really enjoyed them."

"Well it sounds fun. What happens at one?"

"Make up, Dress up's. Games. Gossip. All sorts of girly things."

"I can see I'll feel out of place. Do I have to come?" Harry commented.

"Yes. You're a girl too, for the time being." Hermione glared at him.

Harry slumped and looked at the clock next to his bed. "The Auror's are probably here already. You had better get this lot ready for the muggle world. I need to go talk to the Aurors."

Harry escaped and made his way back to the main house. He found everyone in the lounge talking.

"Hello everyone." He greeted them. "I trust you're all well."

The three Auror's stared at the strange female until Tonks recognised him.

"Harry? Is that you?" She jumped out of her seat and grabbed him in a hug. "How're you doing? I heard you'd gone through some changes but this is unexpected."

Harry returned the hug. "Still trying to cope but I'm keeping busy."

"You're certainly keeping us busy. Dumbledore has had all of us quietly trying to find you. You disappeared from the station and never showed up at your aunt and uncle's place. He's been really worried."

Harry shrugged, unconcerned. "Let him worry. He's caused me enough problems throughout my entire life. "

"How can you say that?" Tonks looked shocked. "He's been trying to protect you your entire life."

"At the expense of my life. He claims to have been protecting me, but he never did anything to protect me from the people I was most vulnerable too; the very people he gave me to."

"We talked to them at the platform and told them to treat you better."

"And you don't think that it is a little unusual that you need to tell them to treat me properly, like they can't do it on their own?"

Tonks frowned. "Yeah, you're right. But Dumbledore says that place is better protected than Hogwarts, that the wards there are the best he can make."

"After encounters with Voldemort inside Hogwarts and being successfully kidnapped from there by him, I find that less than reassuring." Harry countered. "Here I am behind the best wards the Gringotts Warding department can provide, they have at least haven't given the appearance of being perfect; however much he claim's otherwise."

"Acknowledged." Kingsley Shacklebolt stood and entered the conversation. "I'm please you are taking every precaution regarding your safety. I would like to suggest that you at least contact Albus and tell him you're safe, even if you don't tell him where you are. Beyond that we are here as your guard detail. Amelia was specific regarding your status as a VIW and we will respect that."

"Did she tell you that you were protecting me?" Harry asked him.

"No, just that we would know him when we saw him/her. She seemed a little confused on that score which surprised me but I now understand how she would be unsure how to address you."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm unsure how to address myself sometimes."

"Where are the others?" Tonks asked.

"Hermione is just getting them ready for the trip; clothing, how the muggle world works and stuff. Speaking of which... Lady Greengrass, we need to alter your robes to be less conspicuous."

"And what would you recommend?" Lady Greengrass stood and replied a little primly at being told she was dressed inappropriately.

"Allow me, Lady Greengrass." Tonks pulled her wand and after a moment's thought waved it at her target.

The elegant robe was altered to become a shirt and belted skirt. The design and patterns didn't change much, allowing the new outfit to retain the elegance that it had been chosen for.

Lady Greengrass inspected her new outfit and gave a nod of approval. "Thank you, Auror Tonks. I trust you will be able to reverse this when we return?"

"Of course, Lady Greengrass." Tonks replied.

"The girl's shouldn't be much longer, but before they arrive, I have a request for you three to consider." Harry addressed the three Auror's. "I need duelling training. We all do actually but me most of all. I was wondering if any, or all, of you would be willing to give me some training."

"Yes. Not a problem. I just need to fit it in around my schedule." Tonks replied immediately.

"If you talk to Madam Bones, she may add it to your schedule." Harry grinned. "She quite likes me at the moment."

"May I ask why you need such training?" Kingsley asked.

"You may."

Kingsley just glared at Harry.

"I can't reveal all the details, it's not safe. Not for me or you. Madam Bones knows so she can confirm my need. All I will say is that you should be able to figure it out from the events at the Ministry a few days ago. You just need to follow everyone's footsteps." Harry finally answered.

Kingsley frowned in thought.

"Tonks, before I forget, I need to talk to you about a family matter. It can wait until we get back, we'll want some privacy for it."

Tonks nodded. "Alright Harry. We should go and hurry up the others."

"Probably. Actually, I need to introduce you to someone if you're going to train me."

"Alright. Let's go." Tonks started for the door.

"Just a second, Harry." Kingsley stopped him. "Is the key where you were first confronted by the Death Eaters?"

"Yes." Harry replied.

Kingsley nodded. "Do you have anywhere to train or do we need to provide something."

"I have one place that's ready now and another that should be ready tomorrow."

"Where?" Kingsley looked a little surprised as he followed Harry and Tonks.

"Here, I'll show you on the way to get the others."

"Can I come?" Hestia Jones asked. "I'm not sure yet but I would like to see how prepared you are."

Harry nodded and led the three Auror's to the extension. He opened the door to the entrance hall and led them inside.

"Hang on a second. Sally. These are Kingsley Shacklebolt, Hestia Jones and Nymphadora Tonks. They may be visiting to help train me." Harry called out to the shadows.

Tonks was about to blast Harry for using her first name when she saw movement in the shadows and the massive skeletal snake made her appearance.

The three Auror's were pulling their wands when Harry told them to relax. The snake made her way over to the group and looked them over. She gave her usual bow to acknowledge Harry's introduction and returned to the shadows.

"Where did you find that?" Tonks struggled to speak.

Harry looked at the three pale Auror's. That used to be Salazar Slytherin's pet. That was the basilisk he hid in the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts. I killed it at the end of my second year."

"Why do you need us to train you?" Hestia asked in amazement.

"I need to get better. I mostly lucked out every time I met Voldemort. I can't rely on luck anymore."

"I don't know how much help I'll be but I'm in. Let's see what you have to train with. That way?" Hestia indicated the door at the far end of the room.

Harry nodded and led the way. In the corridor outside he indicated a couple of rooms. "That room is a gymnasium and the other will have exercise equipment, when I get some. This room here is the duelling room."

Harry opened the door and went past the steps to the observation area and into the main area. "What do you think?"

"A professional duelling room. You are certainly prepared." Kingsley nodded approvingly. "But you are aware that not all duelling is done in a proper room."

"Better than most." Harry nodded. "The other room I have for training will cater to those situations. If you want, you can join everyone for the grand tour tomorrow."

"Sounds good. Let me know when." Kingsley looked around the room then turned suddenly towards the door and they watched as Hermione stuck her head through the door.

"Hello everyone. I was wondering why the door was open. How are you all?"

"We're good Hermione." Tonks replied. "Just checking out the facilities and looking forward to the tour tomorrow. Harry has been hyping some special training facilities; do you know anything about them?"

"No." Hermione huffed and glared at Harry. "Harry has been particularly closed mouth about them."

"I want it to be a surprise." Harry tried to look innocent. "Are you all ready?"

"Yes, we were just on our way. Does Daphne's mother need a change of clothes?"

"No. Tonks sorted that out. She just needs to know how to act and what to expect."

Hermione nodded. "I can sort that out in the car. Let's go."

Harry nodded and he and the Auror's followed Hermione out and back to the main house.

They crowded into the lounge and Kingsley gave them a run down on how the protection detail was going to work.

"Alright everyone. This is quite simple but I expect everyone to follow it. I'll act as the chauffeur and remain with the car, which I will ensure is parked outside of any store you're in. Auror's Tonks and Jones will remain with you at all times. Tonks will be at Harry's side at all times while Jones will act as guard to the rest of you. Do not leave the group. If you need to go somewhere, such as the bathroom, let either Jones or Tonks know and one of them will escort you. Apart from that, try not to draw attention to the fact they are your guards. Harry doesn't have the same profile in the muggle world so avoiding attention will work to our advantage. Are there any questions?"

"What happens if we're attacked?" Hermione asked.

"The car is very heavily warded. Try and make your way back to it if you can. I understand that all you girls can use your wands, don't try to fight unless you have no other choice. That goes for you too Harry."

"I'll try and follow your advice. No promises though." Harry shrugged.

Kingsley shot him a grin. He knew that Harry would try to be the last one out no matter what anyone said.

"If there are no further questions, let's go." Kingsley led the way out of the house and to the car.

The ministry car was a magically modified limousine that still didn't look big enough for the entire party. It was, of course, as they settled down in the back. Kingsley and Hestia sat up front while Tonks joined Harry and Ginny in the back and chatted freely with the two Gryffindors. Hermione sat next to Daphne and her mother, explaining what to expect and how to act without drawing attention to Lady Greengrass. The other girls grouped up and chatted happily as the car set off.

Kingsley's driving was quick and smooth and it didn't take long to arrive at their destination, the shopping district on Oxford Street in London. Stepping out of the car they looked around at the street and the range of shops lining it. Harry barely had time to get his bearings before Hermione was pulling him into the nearest store. Looking around the insides he could see that it catered to a range of women's clothing.

"Hi Adele." Emily greeted one of the shop assistants, a woman of a similar age.

"Emily, how good to see you again. How have you been? And is that little Hermione? You've really grown into a fine young woman. Who are these? Friends of yours?"

"Hi, I'm good thank you. These are some friends of mine from the boarding school I go to."

"Well, it's good to meet you all. Let's get started." Adele rubbed her hands together.

"Great. Start with her." Hermione pointed to Harry who suddenly gulped nervously.

Being taken into a changing room and measured was a very uncomfortable experience for Harry but once he had been measured Hermione, Ginny and Tonks were selecting a variety of lingerie and clothing for him to try. Harry was practically trapped in the changing room by the two Gryffindors and the Auror as they took turns so that they could try their own selections. He was totally baffled as they appeared to choose and reject outfits on a whim. Finally he was allowed out and stared at the piles of clothing on the checkout counter.

"So this is shopping? I didn't get to pick anything?" Harry mumbled to Hermione and Ginny.

"Sorry Harry. We just needed to get you a few basics. From now on you can pick some things for yourself. You're enjoying this though right?" Hermione asked.

"If I ignore the fact that they are girls clothing." Harry grumbled then shook himself and focused back on Hermione. "I'm not hating it, if that's what you're asking. It's already much better than any previous experience I've had."

"That's good. It will get better from here. I promise. Let's get this stuff and move on. There are plenty of other stores to look at." Hermione pulled gently at his arm.

Harry nodded. "Okay. Thanks."

Hermione just smiled at him.

"So how are you paying for all this?" Adele asked as they approached the counter.

"Cash. How much is it all?" Harry replied as he pulled his wallet.

"You're paying for everyone? Very generous of you." Adele looked a little surprised.

"I came into my inheritance recently so I thought I would treat my friends to a shopping spree."

"I wish I had a friend like you." Adele sighed as she scanned all the items.

She was careful to keep each girls selection separate as she worked through the piles, scanning then wrapping and packing each group into bags.

Finishing the final pile Adele told Harry the total price. Harry simply nodded and pulled out the required number of notes.

"Keep the change, for all your help." Harry picked up his bags and smiled. Turning he walked out of the store leaving Adele gaping at the nearly fifty pound tip.

"That was nice of you, Harry." Hermione whispered to Harry as they left.

Harry shrugged. "She was very helpful."

"You shouldn't really be all that generous at all the stores." Hermione mentioned. "I know that you have a lot of money but if you spend it like that you will run out."

"I know. But she is a friend of you isn't she?"

"Yes. Mum and I come here a lot. They have a good variety of clothing and we like their styles."

"What do we do with all the bags?" Harry asked gesturing with the multiple bags he was holding.

"We'll put them in the boot of the car." Hermione decided. "We'll struggle if we have to carry these all day."

"I'm glad to hear that." Harry was relieved. "I always hated having to carry all the bags for my aunt and cousin."

"Actually, I think that is the reason most guys hate shopping with girls." Hermione chuckled as she put her bags in the car. "They get left holding the bags while the girls pick out clothes."

Harry smiled as he put his own in the car. "Where to next?"

"It's a really nice store just over there." Hermione pointed out a store that appeared to stock very elegant clothing.

"That looks expensive." Harry commented.

"So? Girls are allowed to look good." Hermione replied as if stating the obvious. "That includes you too, Harry."

"Weren't you the one saying I shouldn't spend too much?"

"There is a difference between just giving it away and spending it correctly. You budgeted for this trip so we will stick to it. I just want you to get as much for your money as possible."

Harry grinned looking at Hermione. 'So you are just looking out for me huh?"

"Yep." Hermione bounced off to join Tracy and Daphne.

"Enjoying yourselves?" Hermione asked the two Slytherin girls.

"Very much." Daphne looked very happy. "I never realised that muggles had such a range of shops and styles. How do they do it?"

Hermione shrugged. "There are a lot of people trying to get into the fashion industry. More fail than succeed but those that do usually succeed by offering something new that people want."

"They have a whole industry around fashion?" Tracy was surprised.

"Of course. Muggles build industries around anything that makes money." Hermione explained. "It just depends on how much people want what they have to offer as to how much money they make."

"How much does the fashion industry make?" Daphne asked.

"I don't know exactly. It would be a multi-billion pound industry though." Hermione's reply was more vague that normal. "I don't know a lot about the business world."

"Give it to me in wizarding money." Daphne said in exasperation.

"I don't know if it would break one billion galleons, but I wouldn't be surprised." Hermione turned into the next shop leaving the two Slytherin's gaping on the side walk.

"Come on you two. What're you waiting for?" Harry said as he passed.

Daphne shook herself and looked at Tracy.

"That's more money than is in the entire wizarding world." Tracy whispered in shock.

"I know. "Daphne replied. "Perhaps we underestimated the capability of muggles."

With her Metamorphmagus abilities to boost her hearing, Tonks had been able to follow the conversation. "The truth is that wizards never think that anything that can be achieved without magic is worthwhile. There is no magic that can replace creativity, something wizards have forgotten."

Tonks left them standing there as she went to join Harry.

"Come on Harry." She said. "Start picking things and we'll let you know what we think."

"I'm not really sure what to pick." Harry whispered absently as he looked around at the women's clothing. "I never even got the chance to do this when I was a guy and I think that would be simpler."

"Probably." Tonks gently took and squeezed his hand. "Just as well you've got me to help pick some things out."

"No pink." Harry shot her a firm look.

"I promise. It would clash with your eyes anyway. Red might work though." Tonks was already pulling Harry through the racks of clothing and pulling things out.

"What should I look for?" Harry asked as Tonks held a green top up to him.

"Colour, style. It's really just finding thing that you like. You need to remember that given the size of your rack, lower necklines will show a lot of cleavage. That's not a bad thing but you have to be comfortable."

"How about this then?" Harry pulled out a red top.

"Nice." Tonks put it up to Harry. "Not sure it's right for you though. Ginny would probably look good in it though."

"Harriett? Over here." Hermione called out holding a white dress.

"I think that's you." Tonks chuckled.

"Yeah. Thanks." Harry responded dryly.

Harry walked over to where Hermione and Ginny had been looking and was immediately set upon by Hermione as she tried to see how the dress would look on him.

"That's a nice top." Ginny was looking at the top he had found.

"Yeah. Tonks though so too. See how it looks on you." Harry handed it over to the surprised girl.

Ginny held it up to herself and looked in one of the many scattered mirrors and smiled. "It looks great. Thanks, both of you."

Harry only managed a smile as Hermione pulled him round so she could try and get the dress aligned properly. She nodded satisfied.

"You should get this. It looks good on you." Hermione moved Harry's hands to hold it in place so she could step back and look at it properly.

"Alright. What else?"

"These." Daphne pushed a pair of pants at him.

Susan and Luna were waiting behind her, both holding clothes that they wanted him to try.

Harry learned more about clothing than he though ever existed. Shirts, blouses, skirts, high-waist skirts, side-split skirts. Harry's head was awhirl with new facts. Even jeans, something he had thought was simple had gotten him in trouble. Low-rise, slim fit, boot-leg. He never knew such varieties even existed. Shirts were worse; he had never paid much attention before but he had to now. The shirts were picked and discarded based on the subtle changes in cut and styling were beyond him at first. It wasn't until he tried some of them on that he began to see how the minor variations would change how it fit to his body and could accentuate his body in different ways.

The clothes he had been forced into weren't too bad. Most of his discomfort came from them being girls clothing. They weren't actually uncomfortable, at least not the ones that fit properly. Different yes, but not bad. Not that he was ready to commit himself to women's clothing just yet but he couldn't say they were as bad as he thought. If he could disassociate himself a little and look at the girl in the mirror he could say that she looked really good. One step at a time he thought to himself, there was no need to rush.

The girls were having a ball. Moving from shop to shop and trying on a huge variety of clothing. The wizarding girls had little experience with muggle fashion and were initially overwhelmed by the range of styles and colours. There had been a few shocks are they realised how revealing some of the clothing was. Hermione had reassured them on some items by telling them how girls would layer the tops, creating different effects. It was a good thing that the boot of the Ministry car had been expanded so much as they would have filled a normal boot several times over with the bags of clothing.

The real shocks for both Harry and the girls who had grown up on wizarding fashion were the swimwear and lingerie. The first shop they had visited had been more functional and less flashy. It was the shops that specialised in lingerie that were the real head turners. There were more than a few dropped jaws and awed whispers about stores dedicated to just lingerie.

They had a few items that were more functional but these were in the minority. The girls had been shocked as Hermione cheerfully pulled out the comparatively microscopic pieces of fabric and held them up to herself, Harry and the other girls. Tonks and Emily were the only members who hadn't hesitated to start looking.

"Is there a reason they are so small." Lady Greengrass asked Emily quietly.

"For cuteness, sexiness and to attract the attention of the man in our life." Emily replied without hesitation. "It can make you feel better about yourself too, having something that sexy under your clothes."

Lady Greengrass nodded thoughtfully. "To attract the attention of the man in our life?" She mused.

She set to looking around the store with a very determined expression.

Emily watched her in amusement. "Someone is in for a surprise."

Harry struggled against a persistent blush. The sight of girls holding up scanty pieces of lace and fabric to themselves was totally outside of anything he had previously experienced. He was also totally unsure of how he would feel wearing some of the things that Hermione, Ginny and Tonks were holding up to him.

Daphne came over holding a particularly small bra. "Hermione, the tag says it's my size but it looks way to small."

Hermione looked it over. "That's pretty. It's a quarter cup."

"A quarter cup? It doesn't cover anything?"

"It's not supposed to. There's enough to provide support but that's all."

"And people wear these?"

"Are there any other colours?" Hermione asked. "I'll get one for myself. Harry, do you want one?"

"Would they make one in my size?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"We can look." Hermione ignored his sarcasm and turned back to Daphne. "Show us where you found them."

Hermione happily browsed through the selection of tiny bras, pulling out selections for herself, and forcing other selections on Harry and any of the other girls who wandered too close along with the smallest panties they had ever seen.

Daphne would later swear that she had seen her mother quietly pick one.

Harry wasn't sure why he had been forced to get so many sets of lingerie. "I've almost got enough sets now that I could wear a different set each day until we go back to school." He complained.

"So?" Hermione responded. It was obvious she didn't see an issue with his complaint. "I don't think you're going to change too much more in this regard so these should last you for quite a while."

Harry shrugged. If Hermione, his best friend, confidant and notorious bookworm, didn't see a problem, then he shouldn't complain.

Swimsuit shopping was also an interesting experience. The one piece suits were interesting, the variety of styles and coverage. It was look looks of shock directed towards Hermione as she started pulling out bikinis. Hermione just ignored them as she looked through the bright, multi-coloured pieces of fabric and started handing some out to the other girls.

"Don't you think they are a little small?" Tracy asked looked at the small piece of green and yellow fabric.

"No." Hermione shrugged.

"And people wear these in public?" Susan was looking at the floral patterned set Hermione had handed her.

"At the beach and at swimming pools. You would look out of place in other places, although some girls wear them under their clothes during the hotter summer days."

"I would be a little uncomfortable wearing nothing but this in public."

"My backyard has had a level of Obscurement placed on it so we won't be noticed out there and we also have the indoor pool. You can get used to it there without anyone but us around."

"And if I don't?"

"There are some very nice one piece suits. But you should get both."

"I'll think about it."

Hermione nodded and turned back to forcing various bikini's on Harry.

"I would never have thought you would be so into fashion." Tracy commented later over lunch.

They were sitting in a cafe they had found, the staff had pulled a couple of table together for the large group of girls to sit around. The adults sat at a nearby table. They had gotten tired and hungry and finally managed to drag the more dedicated shoppers from the last store in search of sustenance.

"I find the fashion sense of the wizarding world less than inspiring." Hermione explained. "So I never found a reason to make an effort until the Yule Ball."

"And what an effect." Harry complemented her. "You looked amazing."

"Thanks. I enjoyed dressing up." Hermione smiled at the memory. "Wizarding fashion is locked in the middle ages, along with the rest of the culture, no offense."

"Maybe we can change that." Ginny suggested.

"There a number of changes that need to be made to the wizarding world, I'm sure Hermione has a list somewhere. We can get her to add it to it when we get home." Harry managed to suppress his chuckles.

The others were not so restrained and broke into giggles as Hermione huffed good-naturedly.

First the drinks were delivered then the food and the staving teenagers dove in. Hermione and Harry were used to muggle food, although Harry's experiences were few and far between and this was the most relaxed restaurant experience he had ever had. The others were surprised by the quality and presentation of the meal that was placed before them.

As the plates were cleared the conversations restarted. They chatted primarily about the shopping they had done, favourite outfits and accessories.

"Hermione. We never picked up any shoes. There were some in a couple of the stores we went to, why didn't we get any?" Hannah asked.

"You'll see." Hermione grinned at her.

"I need to go to a sports clothing store." Harry added.

"I'd like to visit some of those jewellery stores we've seen." Daphne put her two cents in.

"I saw a store I would like to visit as well." Luna piped up.

"We'll try to get everywhere. There are a couple of places I want to take everyone as well." Hermione said.

"If everyone is finished then we'd better get going or we'll run out of time." Tonks had come over and heard the last part of the conversation.

Harry nodded and stood to go and pay while the others gathered their things.

They walked a short way down the street when Hermione stopped and turned to Hannah. "Here you go. Isn't this a better place?"

Hannah looked at the store Hermione was indicating and gaped. Shoes lined the shelves.

"I'm in heaven." Hannah murmured. "Shoe heaven. This is just the perfect place. Shoes, without clutter or distraction. I could live here happily."

Susan laughed at her friend as she pulled her into the store.

Hannah looked around at the dozens of styles and started pulling shoes of the shelves to look at them more closely. She totally monopolised one of the assistants trying on shoes. The other two assistants had to struggle to cover the rest of the girls and the other customers.

Hermione and Tonks kept trying to get Harry into heels, to his credit he did try them but found it difficult to keep his balance. He did like the look of Daphne trying on a pair of black knee-high boots and let Hermione help him into similar pair. Hermione accepted that Harry wouldn't be ready for high-heels for a while and got him into flats and low-heels, avoiding stiletto style narrow heels. Tonks didn't.

Hannah had to be dragged out of the store later, but not without a dozen shoe boxes. She had agonised over her choices and Harry, in desperate attempt to escape the constant attempts to get him into high heels, had just asked the assistant to get all the last four choices she was agonising over so that they could leave. He had to extricate himself from Hannah's hug in order to pay.

The next store was a large sporting goods store where Harry quickly managed to find some exercise clothes, shoes and even a gi for his martial arts lessons. Hermione practically forced the other girls to get some as well. Stating that if they were going to be training then the proper clothing would be an advantage got them to stop grumbling.

Their next stop was for Luna. She had seen a store in a side street that sold crystals and other oddities. It was an odd experience for the magic-users, seeing a muggle store dedicated to spiritual and magical items. They could see that it wasn't real but it was an unusual experience for them to see magic from a muggle view point. Luna picked up a couple of books and they all picked a crystal or two.

Hermione led the group to a very high class store next. The assistant recognised Emily from her visit earlier in the year when she was looking for a dress for a medical function. The girls wandered to store, marvelling over the finery. Ginny looked at the price of a dress that had caught her attention.

"Hermione, what's the conversion from muggle money to galleons?" Ginny whispered.

"Ten to one. Ten pounds is one galleon."

Ginny looked back at the tag and blanched. "This dress costs a fortune. You could live for months in this amount of money."

"Do you like this one?" Harry joined them.

"No." Ginny went to look somewhere else.

"She does but she thinks it's too expensive." Hermione explained.

"How do you think it'll look on her?"

"Magnificent. But she won't accept it."

"I could just get it for her anyway. Her birthday is in August isn't it?"

Hermione grinned. "Nice. Now, let's find you something."

"What happens if, after all this, I get turned back in a couple of weeks?" Harry asked.

"We go shopping for guy's clothing, although I picked you up a couple of things at the sporting store just in case."

Harry smiled at her. "And everything I got today?"

"I think that we can find them a good home between all of us. There are some very good tailors around." Hermione paused. "I'm worried that it won't be that quick though."

"Glad to see they won't go to waste." Harry teased. He shared Hermione's worry but worries had no place in today's activities.

Hermione shoved him gently, her good cheer returning. "Let's find you something."

They joined Susan, Hannah and Daphne who were looking through a rack. Susan had a reverent expression.

"These are amazing. How did they come up with these?" Susan gently stroked on dress lovingly.

"I don't know." Hermione answered. "You really love this don't you?"

Susan nodded. "These are just works of arts. Now I understand how Hannah feels about shoes."

Hannah nudged her friend teasingly.

"I have to agree. The style and elegance is... is..." Daphne paused. "I don't know what to say. I hope there's a ball this year wear one of these. Muggle or not, these are breath taking."

"Well, pick your breath taking works of art." Harry encouraged them.

Susan flashed a brilliant smile at him. "I think you should try this one."

The assistant was very happy as everyone got something. Nearly a dozen dresses was a huge purchase. "Please come again soon."

"Not too soon I'm afraid." Harry replied.

The assistant chuckled.

An elegant jewellery store was the next stop. Daphne, her mother and Tracy took their time perusing the display cases.

Lady Greengrass was taken by some bracelets with intricate linkages and was trying a couple on while the others were looking at a variety of other items.

"I can't believe how intricate some of these are. How do they do it without magic?" Tracy whispered to Hermione.

"Lots of practice. Lots and lots of practice." Hermione replied. "I think they have some special equipment to help as well."

"Incredible. Tonks was right. We're so impressed by what we can do with magic; we never consider what can be done without it."

"It's a blind spot that wizards have." Hermione said thoughtfully. "They ignore the possibility that things could be done without magic."

Tracy looked at her sharply. "Do you think that could be used to our advantage?"

Hermione nodded. "I think we can. I just don't know how just yet. We need to look at what's available and then workout how to use it to our advantage."

"A new research project?"

Hermione nodded. "But not today. We may need to make a trip to a muggle library or bookstore. My dad has gotten a few things already to look at, we can use them a starting point."

"But not today."

"No, not today. What do you think of this necklace?"

"Very nice. What would you say if we all got matching necklaces, maybe with a single stone that matches our house colours."

Hermione looked at Tracy then nodded. "That is nice idea. We could probably get matching earrings and possible rings and bracelets as well."

Tracy smiled at the suggestion then her eyes widened. "Daphne." She waved her friend over.

"What is it?" Daphne looked at the two girls.

"Your family does enchantment on items." Tracy gestured to the necklaces and single stone pendants. "Would these be a good base for enchantment? What sort of protection's could we get put on these. We were thinking of a matching set for everyone with a stone that matches our house colours."

Daphne looked them over. "I think you may have something. These are good quality items; I think we can do something reasonable."

Hermione nodded and waved Harry over. "Harry, we were thinking of getting matching necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets, if they have them. Daphne can get her family to put protection enhancements on them."

Harry thought the idea over and nodded. "Will you be adding stones to them?"

"We thought a single stone in our house colours."

"Would more stones allow for better enhancements?"

Daphne nodded. "It would cost more but more stones would give us the ability to place stronger protection."

"Could the goblins help make then stronger?"

"Possibly, we would you need to liaise with them though."

"Okay. Get a diamond on either side of the stone. Let me know when you're ready for the goblins to get involved." Harry went over to another display case to look at watches.

The three girls looked at each other.

"Just like that?" Daphne was surprised.

"Harry can be like that sometimes. Probably because it was to provide protections for us." Hermione explained. "I wonder what he will say when he realises that he'll have to get his ears pierced."

The two Slytherins giggled at that and went to get an assistant to help them.

They had to work a little bit to convince Harry not to get the bulky man's watch he wanted. He managed to get them to compromise with a smaller mans watch that wouldn't look out of place on his female wrist instead of the ladies watches they were pointing out.

The afternoon wore on and the girls visited one store after another. The visit to the furniture store was quick; a benefit of Dobby and Winky conjuring the furniture from the catalogue's pictures was that they already knew what they wanted. They placed their order while the others looked around. The clerk was surprised by the large order being placed by the three teenagers but with one obvious parent standing nearby nodding, he didn't raise any issues, although the cash payment caused a look of surprise that they had become familiar with from other stores.

The electronics store was also an eye-opener for the girls from the wizarding world. The range of televisions, stereos, entertainment units and a huge range of other electronic items. Harry and Hermione selected several complete entertainments units, stereos, a fridge, stove, microwave and other items for the kitchen in the extension and several other miscellaneous items.

"Now we just need to get some movies." Hermione smiled at Harry. "Are there any you particularly want to see? Any favourites?"

"Never really got to see any." Harry shrugged.

"We'll have to change that."

Hannah managed to talk them into another shoe store. She was a little disappointed to be limited to only two pairs.

Hermione used her indecision as an opportunity to visit a pharmacy for a few items. Harry gave her a couple of hundred pound notes, over her protests that it was too much. She left with Hestia as an escort and returned about fifteen minutes later carrying a couple of bags.

The group was getting tired and sore feet were becoming an issue. The makeup and accessories store had perked them up a bit but by five they were ready to go home.

"Okay, there is just one more place I want to visit. We can go home after that, the shops will be closing then anyway." Hermione said after a few of the girls suggested calling it a day.

"You don't have to just to prove that you are a better shopper than me. You win already." Daphne finally joined in the conversation.

"Thank you for admitting that gracefully. But I really do want to visit this place before we go."

"You're not thinking of going where I think you are?" Emily entered the conversation.

"Yep." Hermione chirped. "You said to wait until I'm older; I think I'm old enough now."

Emily considered her daughter and the challenging look she was giving her and finally nodded. "Alright. Lets go."

Hermione literally bounced over to her mother and hugged her. "Thanks."

Hermione led the way to a mall and once inside upstairs to a store hidden away in the back.

Leading the way inside, Hermione was immediately looking through the racks. The other girls stopped just inside to take in the wears the store sold.

The outside may have been plain and nondescript, the inside was different. The mannequins where displaying some of the skimpiest and sexiest clothing that any of the girls had ever seen. Lingerie and swimwear smaller than anything they had seen previously. Hestia actually had to wait outside while Tonks cheerfully walked in, patting Hermione's shoulder in appreciation as she passed.

"Hermione, why are we here?" Harry asked her quietly.

"This place sells really sexy clothing." Hermione answered. "I've always wanted to get something from here."

She pushed a tiny green bikini on to Harry and looked at a pink one. "Think this would look good on Ginny?"

Harry looked at the microscopic scrap of fabric and found himself visualising it on Ginny. He blushed.

"Me too." Hermione agreed taking his blush as an agreement and called out. "Ginny?"

"When and where do you think we will be wearing these?" Harry asked.

"I thought it might be nice to get some sun while we study, that's why I wanted that private garden. We can study and enjoy the sunshine."

"Wearing something that barely exists?"

"Something like that."

Ginny finally joined them. "You called?"

"Yes, this is for you."

Ginny looked the tiny pink bikini over. "It this something to wear or blow my nose on?"

Hermione swatted Harry when he started chuckling at Ginny's comment.

"Go look at something else." Hermione pushed Harry away.

Harry left the two girls to talk and joined the others in looking around at the lingerie. Luna joined him and cheerfully coerced him into looking through the most microscopic of the lingerie she could find.

It had taken a few minutes for the other girls to start looking around. This store dealt in clothing that was totally beyond anything they had previously experienced. Once they had started looking around they got into it, the thought of the incredibly sexy clothing almost covering them appealed to their feminine side.

Padma was the last and most hesitant, even with both Hermione and Luna encouraging her she picked the fewest and most conservative of the items available.

They were practically chased out of the store by the staff, who were trying to close. Harry had helped by simply paying for everything they were holding. He didn't realise that Hermione, Luna and Tonks had gotten him a few extra things as well.

They returned home and were greeted by Dobby and Winky bearing drinks and whisking the mass of bags in the boot of the car away.

They all sat on the couches in the entrance hall. Their bags of shopping were neatly placed in groups for each person to take when they left. Harry's, Hermione's and Ginny's were already in their rooms.

"That was quite the experience." Daphne commented as she sipped at her drink. "I wouldn't mind repeating it, but not for a couple of weeks."

"At least." Tracy added.

"And I was going to suggest we go out tomorrow and look in more shops." Hermione said.

Everyone stared at her and she broke into giggles. "Sorry but I couldn't resist that."

"You were joking?" Hannah looked near tears. "I want to look at those shoe shops again. Entire stores dedicated to just shoes. It's a... it's a revolutionary concept."

The others suppressed their laughter at the distraught girl's adoration of shoes.

Tonks stuck her head in the room. "Got a minute Harry? You said you wanted to talk."

"Yes, that's right." Harry stood. "Excuse me."

Harry and Tonks closed the door behind them for some privacy. "Your mother was a member of the Black family wasn't she. She was cast out for marrying the 'wrong' person?"

Tonks nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Sirius made me his heir so I'm now Lord Black. I'm willing to restore your membership into the family, if you want. You and your entire family. The Black family has had a bad reputation up until now; I would like your help in restoring their reputation."

Tonks stared at Harry then engulfed him in a hug. "Thank you Harry. I know my mother will be overwhelmed. She never mentions it but I know that she's still upset about having been cast out. I'll let her know of your offer. I imagine she'll want to come and accept your offer and swear her allegiance in person."

"Not necessary, but I appreciate it."

Tonks gave him one final hug. "I have to go. I'll see you later. Thanks Harry."

"Not a problem. See you later."

Harry returned to the other girls and listened to them discuss the marriage situation and how to approach it.

Padma leant forward. "Harry, I think that you will find that tomorrow will be filled with parents who want to know what you plan to do about being married to their daughters. I know my father will want to sort this out as soon as possible."

Harry sighed and nodded. "Let him know to come tomorrow morning."

"You should sort out a time. My father will want to visit as well." Daphne added.

Tracy nodded. "Mine too. You might want to have the accounts for those families whose titles you are giving away."

Harry nodded. "I have the summaries here already. They should be enough."

"We need a schedule." Hermione entered the conversation. "If we do the families who'll take this easier first and can reach agreements quickly then you can have their support when dealing with the more argumentative families."

"Like my father." Padma finished.

Harry nodded. "That's a good idea. Can you organise it please, Hermione?"

Hermione nodded.

"What's next?" Susan asked.

"I want everyone here tomorrow. Daphne found something that may be very important for us to know and we'll need to plan out our training program for the summer. I'll also have something to show everyone as well." Harry finished with a mischievous grin.

"So we finally get to see what's in your special room?" Hermione asked. "I still think you've just snuck a Quidditch pitch in there."

"All I am saying right now is that everyone should bring their brooms tomorrow." Harry refused to say any more on the subject.

Lady Greengrass entered the room stopping any further conversation. "Come on young lady, we should get home."

"Okay." Daphne stood. "I will see you all tomorrow. I had fun today. Muggles are better than I ever gave them credit. Thank you for opening my eyes."

"Indeed, today was most enjoyable." Lady Greengrass added.

"You're welcome." Hermione replied. "See you tomorrow."

Daphne's departure was the catalyst. One by one the girls stood and said their good-byes. They were all tired from the long day but they were very happy with their purchases.

Finally it was only the three Gryffindors left sitting on the couches.

"We need to move." Harry stated rhetorically.

"Why aren't you then?" Hermione asked a few minutes later.

"Tired, and my feet hurt."

Hermione laughed.

Daniel stuck his head in. "Dinner is ready." He chuckled at the tired teens. "Come on you three. You can go to bed as soon as you finish dinner."

They dragged themselves to their feet. Dinner was a quiet affair and the three teens left for their bedrooms as soon as they finished.

They didn't go to bed immediately. Hermione and Ginny joined Harry in his bedroom with some reading. They all sprawled on the massive bed and just relaxed. Harry was reading through Daphne's research and learning just how depraved Tom Riddle really was.

"I can't believe he did this." He whispered.

"What was that?" Hermione asked.

"Riddle. The things he did to himself. He's right when he says that the name Tom doesn't hold any meaning to him anymore. He has totally destroyed his own humanity."

"What did he do?"

"He tore his soul into pieces in an attempt to prevent himself from dying."

"So the diary..." Ginny started.

"Was a piece of his soul. It gets worse. He did it multiple times. That's the only way he could have still managed to return even after it was destroyed."

"That's just sick."

"It gets even worse. You have to commit a cold blooded murder as a part of the ritual."

Ginny paled and turned slightly green. "I think I'm going to be sick." She fled to the bathroom.

Harry watched her flee. "Is she okay?"

"Probably not. Give her a few minutes; if she's not back we'll go check on her. That has to have been a huge shock for her. Is there any good news in there?"

"Yes. She detailed several methods of detecting them at various ranges and how to destroy them. She also mentioned someone who we may need to talk to. He was the potions professor at Hogwarts during Voldemort's time there. She suspects he may have informed him about this and may know something important."

"Its' a lead that's worth tracking down." Hermione nodded.

Harry looked back towards the bathroom. "Should we check on her?"

Hermione paused then nodded.

They found Ginny kneeling over the toilet breathing heavily. Hermione knelt next to her and pulled her hair out of her face and gestured to Harry to rub her back.

They sat in silence, gently caring for the distraught red head as she struggled to keep her nausea in check.

Eventually she sat back. "I think I'll be okay now."

They let her clean herself up and wash her face then guided her back to the bed.

"Can we beat him?" She asked in a small voice.

"Yes. We know his secret and he doesn't know we know. Daphne gave us information on how to find and destroy these items. We have an advantage. What do you say we use it?" Harry challenged.

Ginny nodded, her strength and determination starting to return. "Can I stay here tonight? Having you nearby makes me feel safe."

Harry smiled at her and nodded. "For as long as you need."

"I'll grab our blankets. We can all bundle up in our own sheets and pretend we're all camping together." Hermione added as she stood.

"Thanks. Both of you." Ginny relief could be felt.

"Anytime." Hermione left to get their things for the night.

A little while later the lighter were turned off and the three of them were bundled up in their own blankets and curled up near each other, Harry and Hermione lying on either side of Ginny providing her with the feeling of protection.

!HPEaSE!

Padma stood before her father struggling with the strong desire to run. He was silent, mentally assessing what she had just told him.

"So you are technically married, without my permission, and he is willing to make me an offer for you." Lord Patil's anger grow with each word.

"Yes father."

"And who is this... individual you bound yourself to? From some poor family I assume." He said scornfully.

"He actually holds four Lordships and has more money and income than you." Padma defended Harry.

"Interesting." Lord Patil was taken aback by this. "I will need to meet him immediately."

"Tomorrow at 11am. He has already scheduled some time for you." Padma stated.

"I'm glad to see that he is proactive. 11am tomorrow then."

!HPEaSE!

"Hello father, I have some news for you that I believe you may like." Daphne entered her father's study.

"Hello Daphne. Did you enjoy your shopping trip? What is this news of yours?"

"My shopping trip was educational. I never realised how much there is in the muggle world. We underestimate them by a vast margin. Did you know that they have individual industries that involve more money than exists in the entire wizarding world."

Her father leant back considering her words. "I wonder if it would be possible to get involved in that. Sorry. You had something to tell me?"

"Yes. I found out today that the oath I made to Harry Potter is recognised as a marriage contract."

"Interesting. I remember you mentioning that you were not alone in making this oath."

"No, there were seven other girls. The oath is not permanent yet, we can be released as long as we don't consummate the relationship."

"Would you be willing to do that with him?"

"I don't know. He's not going to push that either. He's not that sort of person." Daphne paused in thought and her expression softened. "I'm not sure I could ever find anyone better than him."

"I'll want to talk to him, and soon."

"Is tomorrow at 9am too soon?"

He smiled. "I think I can make it."

"He will want me to be involved in the discussion; it's my life as well."

"Acceptable. It will be interesting to meet him in person. His press is rather variable."

"I don't believe any of it is even close. As far as I can tell, the bad is all lies and the good never truly captures his achievements."

"That will be novel. Meeting someone who exceeds the rumours rather than struggling to meet them."

"That would be Harry. If you will excuse me, I have some clothes to put away. I also have some jewellery I would like you to look at enchanting with the best protection's you can. Harry indicated that he is willing to get the goblins to assist."

"Will they do that for him?"

"I don't know, but Susan Bones mentioned that they have a lot of respect for him. I will see you at dinner."

!HPEaSE!

"Hi Dad. I have some good news and some bad news."

"Hello Tracy, what is this news?"

"The bad news is that I accidentally got married. The good news is that he is willing to give us a title."

Tracy's father stood in anger and started shouting. "How do you 'accidentally' get married? And he has a title to give away? He just has a spare title lying around?"

"I swore an oath to assist him in something and I found out today that the oath is recognised as a marriage contract. It isn't permanent, there's an escape clause. As for the title, he actually has four at the moment, two of which belong to families he wants to destroy so yes he does just have a spare title lying around to give away. He has two of them in fact."

Tracy relaxed as her father returned to his seat. "So I could become Lord Davis?" He mused.

"I don't actually think it works like that but my eldest would definitely be Lord Davis. You would act as a proxy until I could take the title fully. That's if we agree to stay married."

"I want to meet this man. Do I know him?"

"You have never met him but you know of him, and you owe him. He's the one who paid for our warding upgrades."

"Does he plan on taking advantage of that?"

"I don't believe so. I truly believe he just wanted to protect me and my family in return for my assistance."

"Interesting. Very interesting. I find myself intrigued by him. When can I meet him?"

"Tomorrow at 9:30am. He has already scheduled some time for you."

"Just like that, well, I suppose I mustn't keep your Lord waiting."

"Thank you. I was afraid you would be angrier."

"I may want to find you a good match for our family, but your happiness is important to me. Does he make you happy?"

"I don't really know him that well yet, but he is a very impressive individual. It's very complicated but it may be possible."

"You seem to be hesitant to give me many details. I trust I will find out more tomorrow?"

"Trust me; I think you can figure most of it out as soon as I introduce him to you tomorrow."


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a great New Year. Welcome to 2010, it will be interesting to see the new development brought by the new decade.

It's been over a year since I started this story and I'm glad so many people have enjoyed it. I can assure all of you that I will not be stopping this story, it may be delayed or I may suffer writers block but I will finish, like... some really cool analogy I can't think of right now.

**Chapter 11**

Harry woke to the persistent buzzing of his alarm. He felt movement on either side of him and heard the groans of two different voices protesting at being woken so early. They must have shifted positions in the night he decided.

"Sorry, I've got to go for my run. There is going to be a lot happening today." He apologised.

"We should probably go with you." Hermione yawned and stretched.

"Yeah." Ginny rubbed at her eyes. "It'll help with our duelling. I learnt that much at the Ministry."

"Come on. Let's go change." Hermione untangled herself from her blankets and stumbled out of the room with Ginny.

Harry grabbed a drink from the bathroom and dressed in his new running clothes and met the others out in the corridor.

"It'll be rough the first few times but it gets easier. I think."

"Very reassuring Harry." Ginny replied dryly.

"Will you two shut up before I change my mind." Hermione complained.

Harry and Ginny laughed and dragged a reluctant Hermione out to start their run.

The run wasn't as long as Harry normally went. Ginny was managing alright but Hermione was struggling. Running was not something she normally indulged in. Still, she admitted to enjoying the crisp morning air. In the end they decided to train on their own until they could keep up with Harry and not slow him down.

Harry had an argument with Hermione and Ginny after they got home. They had to dress up to provide a good impression on their visitors. Hermione and Ginny were of the opinion that Harry would look better in a nice dress. Harry was of the opinion that he would be taken more seriously if he dressed in trousers to create a more masculine effect, minimising his current femininity.

They conceded to his point of view in the end, having to deal with people who may have less respect for women meant that he had to portray the fact that he was still a he, even if he was currently in a female shell.

They were waiting in the entrance hall for their first appointment, refreshments already on the table under charms to maintain their temperatures. Harry had what paperwork he had nearby, ready in case it was needed.

The fireplace flared early and Susan and Hannah tumbled out.

"Morning. You three look nice."

"Morning you two. You're both here early." Harry greeted the two Hufflepuffs.

"We thought we'd come and be nearby in case you needed the support. We have our brooms and we brought some work so we'll just wait in the lounge, if that's alright?" Susan explained.

"That's fine. Thanks for thinking of me." Harry smiled at them. "How did your parents take the news, Hannah?"

"They were upset that I got myself into this situation, I had to endure a long lecture on the importance of not swearing oaths when I don't know exactly what I'm swearing. Beyond that, they just want me to make sure that I'm not going to be taken advantage of. Dad will want to visit you at some point and talk to you to ensure that you won't do anything inappropriate but he's in no rush. He trusted me when I told him you would respect me and not take advantage of me."

"Okay. That'll be a fun conversation." Harry mumbled dryly.

Hannah laughed a little at him. "It'll be fun to watch."

"Do you have a bill for the basilisk parts yet?"

"With the generosity of upgrading our wards and the family discount he's going to wave the fee."

"Is he sure? I don't want to put him out at all."

"He was okay with it. He may want to discuss a business deal."

"Whenever he wants. I will be in a better position to make a deal with him once I get all the details of the families I own, so he may want to wait a week or two."

"I'll let him know. We had better go. Call if you need us."

"Count on it. Thanks." Harry watched to two girls leave.

Hermione checked her watch. "Daphne should be here soon. Are you ready for this?"

"Do I have a choice?" Harry took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Not really." Hermione half smiled then took a deep breath of her own. "I'm really feeling the pressure; I don't know how you're coping so well."

"After you go head-to-head with a Dark Lord, nearly everything else is easy." Harry smiled at her.

The fireplace flared again, twice. Daphne stepped out followed by an older man.

"Lord Potter, may I introduce my father Lord Greengrass." Daphne announced formally.

"Certainly. Lord Greengrass, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I trust you're in good health." Harry stepped forward offering his hand.

"I am thank you, Lord Potter. It is a pleasure to finally meet the person that I have heard and read so much about. How are you coping with the recent changes in your 'situation'?"

"I'm managing." Harry gave a wry smile. "May I introduce my close friends, Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley?"

"Two more of your accidental wives? It's a pleasure to meet you both."

"And you as well." The two girls curtseyed in unison.

"Please, have a seat." Harry gestured to the couches.

"Thank you." Lord Greengrass and Daphne moved over and sat opposite Harry, with Hermione and Ginny sharing a couch off to the side.

"So." Harry began. "You are aware of the situation between myself and your daughter. I am sure that there are issues we need to discuss."

"Indeed, although not as many as you might think. I'm not against an alliance with House Potter. Even more so given that this current arrangement will allow the continuance of House Greengrass, provided that you can overcome you current... 'alteration'. The multiple wives issue is a problem that you will have to work out though."

"Daphne did make me aware of that. A test at Gringotts did inform me that it is possible for me to perform my 'manly duties' in that regards." Harry wasn't completely successful at hiding his blush. "The only real concern I have in that regard is ensuring that both Daphne and myself are happy with each other and the others who remain. I may be in the situation of having multiple wives but I refuse to force anyone to remain with me if they wish otherwise."

"A noble sentiment. Something missing from the some of the wizarding upper class." Lord Greengrass nodded. "I care very much for my daughter's wellbeing. I'm glad her well being is in the hands of someone who cares so strongly for her happiness. Thank you."

"It's not a problem." Harry dipped his head slightly in embarrassment.

Lord Greengrass smiled at the younger Lord. He was beginning to see why his daughter liked this young wizard. His genuine and shy nature coupled with the hype of his achievement.

"Before we get down to business, I'm curious about what happened to the rest of the basilisk I have the skin and teeth for?"

"The Abbott's have the rest of its internal organs and I sold the meat to the Goblins. As for the skeleton... Sally would you come here a moment." Harry called out into the shadows at the far end of the room.

Lord Greengrass looked into the shadows and half stood, reaching for his wand before Daphne caught his arm and reassured him that it was okay. He watched as the giant skeletal snake appeared out of the darkness and looked down at him.

"Sally, this is Lord Greengrass, Daphne's father." Harry spoke to the snake.

Sally looked down at the paling Lord and bowed, then returned back to the shadows she was hiding in.

"That was an unnerving experience." Lord Greengrass said shakily sitting back down and trying to regain his composure. "And you were what, thirteen, fourteen when you faced it?"

"Twelve. Not the most enjoyable experience I've ever had."

"Incredible. You beat the hype surrounding you without even trying. You were just trying to save your friend, as I understand it."

"Yes. Successfully I might add. Shall we continue?"

"Of course. I'm not sure how aware you are of your families heritage, but your family and mine had similar but different areas of ability. Working together we provided a complete service to our clients."

"I was very recently made aware that my family has a talent for warding, one which I share. I was unaware of it when I was choosing my subjects at Hogwarts so I chose the wrong ones, something I will be attempting to correct. What happened to change the relationship between our families?" Harry asked.

"The Ministry pushed the idea that Dark Magic was evil. It isn't but it is more easily abused, more easily turned to hurting people, which is why the masses believed it so easily." He said with a sigh. "Your family distanced themselves from mine after our relationship caused them to lose several important contracts. I hold no animosity to you or your ancestors for this. I would have made the same decision in their place."

"I understand. Having been on the receiving end of negative publicity myself, I have firsthand experience on how easily people believe it."

Lord Greengrass smiled ruefully. "I bet you do."

"I do have plans in the works to correct that."

"Really? How, if I may ask?"

"By introducing muggle concepts into the Hogwarts curriculum. Muggles are taught critical thinking, how to look and think beyond what you are taught and form you own opinions."

Lord Greengrass thought Harry's statement over and nodded. "That will make a huge difference. I must admit, if you hadn't taken my wife and daughter shopping in the muggle world yesterday, I would be saying something different. They came back speaking very highly of the muggle world. Much higher than I would have thought possible."

"Wizards have always underestimated muggles. They see their inability to do magic as a sign that they are inferior. They ignore what can be achieved without magic."

"Indeed. Fashion is a billion galleon industry? I would never have though it possible. Are there many more industries like that?"

"Several, I believe. Hermione?"

"Entertainment, automotive, medical, military, technology. I'm sure there are more I'm not aware of, finance is not an area I've put much study into." Hermione replied.

"Incredible." Lord Greengrass shook his head in amazement. "Back to the subject at hand. Would you be willing to re-establish the alliance between our families?"

"I would. I will not be able to help with the warding aspect of the business for some time as I know nothing of the subject but there are other business and political matters that we can support each other with. As the Head of four families I have an interest in a number of businesses and I have a strong relationship with Gringotts."

"And the Ministry, relationship's you are using fully. I saw your announcements in the Daily Prophet. A million galleons to the DMLE and another in a fund to protect the people of the wizarding world. You have a huge amount of political capital. Supporting you will gain me some of that, which will be advantageous."

"There are a few issues in the Wizengamot that I would like your support on." Harry commented on.

"Any issues other than the reforms you mentioned earlier?"

"There will be a couple of things around the leadership of the Ministry and there's someone I wish of put forward for a seat on the Wizengamot."

"Anyone I know?"

"Lord Patil?"

Lord Greengrass nodded. "He is a good business man. He has been trying to get on the Wizengamot for a few years but no one has been interested in giving power to a foreigner. I assume that one of his daughters is another of your wives."

"You would be correct."

"I have no issue supporting that, provided he is willing to support us."

"That is my hope."

"What issues regarding the Minister of Magic do you foresee the need to vote on? A change of leadership, perhaps?"

"A much needed change. Fudge is not suitable to lead the Ministry through the current crisis."

"He believes otherwise."

"He allowed Voldemort an entire year to plan and gain strength while ridiculing anyone and everyone who tried to prevent another uprising. He was far too close to Lucius Malfoy for me to consider him trustworthy." Harry leant forward as he spoke passionately.

"I agree. Lucius Malfoy was a leach on the wizarding world, we are better off with him in prison. I hear that his son is worse though."

"Draco Malfoy is dead. He died as a result of his own arrogance and stupidity."

"How? What happened?" Lord Greengrass asked, surprised.

"He tried to use the Killing Curse on me in Gringotts, in front of about four Senior Gringotts officials and the Head of the DMLE."

"Very stupid. I'm glad you survived. Who do you think would be the best replacement for Fudge?"

"Madam Bones strikes me as the most suitable candidate." Harry tried to be nonchalant.

Lord Greengrass thought Harry's statement over. "You're in very close relationship with Madam Bones aren't you. Is her niece one of your wives?"

"Yes, but that actually has very little to do with it."

"Debatable, it's very hard to get her support. I've tried in the past but she is very much about doing her job properly. I respect her for that."

"So do I, which is why I'm willing to support her the way I have. There is too much corruption in the Ministry and she is the best person to clean it up. I'm supporting her because I trust her to do what is right over what is easy; to act in the best interest of the entire wizarding world."

"I can see you're trying to reform the entire world. Some traditions should not be cast aside easily."

"Traditions that have a purpose are not what I'm concerned about. My concerns are towards ensuring that people are not victimised because of their heritage or because they are not human simply to prop up the failing power of the current leadership."

"Nobility over self-interest." Lord Greengrass mused. "Something lacking these days. Most families are simply trying to survive. They don't have the time or interest in protecting others."

"That's probably why it's so easy for Dark Lords to rise and gain support. They offer power to those who feel they are losing it."

"Correct. Lies and offers of power. The claim to protect what they believe in. I despair about the state of the wizarding world sometimes. You have my support on anything that will truly benefit the people of this dying world."

"That is my intent. Thank you."

"You are welcome. Now, regarding our businesses, may I suggest that we leave things at the moment. Should we need to make new deals or renegotiate existing ones then we can approach each other. We can revisit this once you have graduated. There is little point in disrupting things for you unnecessarily."

"Thank you. Having four families worth of business to go through means that I am not as prepared to deal as I would like."

"My daughter can help you there." Lord Greengrass looked at his daughter fondly. "I have been preparing her to take over my family's businesses when I retire. If I may ask, if the two of you remain together how will you handle each of the family's finances?"

"I have no issue with Daphne remaining in direct control of your family's finances. I would like everything to be a collaborative effort with all of my wives, both those who remain and those who prefer to be just friends."

"You did mention that you are in control of four families. You would need all the help you can get. Potter and which others, if I may ask?"

"Black, Malfoy and Lestrange."

"How did you manage that?" Lord Greengrass was surprised. "Those are three of the darkest families in the wizarding world. You have just taken about three-quarters of the Dark Lord's financial resources. He's going to be very angry at you."

"He's already trying to kill me. That's actually why I wanted my friends and their families protected. Dumbledore may be going out of his way to protect me but I don't think he is doing a good job of protecting others."

"Which is why you started that fund at Gringotts to provide wards for all families who wish to be protected from him."

Harry nodded. "The people are the ones who suffer the most. Voldemort attacks at night with large numbers against unprotected families. Cowardly but fear inspiring."

"Which is why he does it." Lord Greengrass agreed. "Like I said, you choose nobility over self-interest. Accident or not, I can't fault my daughter's choice in husband."

"Thank you. Is there anything else?"

"Not right now. Any time you need to visit my library, feel free. The Dark Lord has destroyed his own humanity and now is destroying the rest of the world. You have my family's support."

"Thank you. That means a lot." Whatever else Harry had to say way interrupted by a knock at the door.

"I'll get it." Ginny stood and walked over to the door connecting the entrance hall to the rest of the extension.

"Hello Dobby."

"Hello Miss Ginny. The goblin Lictand would like to speak with Harry and there are two letters from Professor Dumbledore for him."

"I'll let him know. Just a minute."

Ginny went back over to Harry. "Lictand needs a word and Dobby has two letters from Dumbledore."

"Attend to them by all means." Lord Greengrass gestured graciously. "We have finished our business for today. I was just being sociable until your next meeting. I was hoping to get to know my daughter's husband a little better."

"Thank you. Ginny ask Dobby to show Lictand in and he can bring the letters as well."

Ginny nodded and went back to Dobby.

Dobby entered a minute later escorting Lictand and holding two letters.

"These arrived for you Master Harry. This one arrived Friday night and this one arrived last night. I found hidden tracing magic attached to them which I had problems removing which is why they were delayed. I is sorry for the delay."

"Not at all. Thank you Dobby, you did good work."

Dobby beamed and popped away.

"Master Craftsman Lictand, you wished to see me?"

"Yes, although I hope I'm not interrupting."

"You're not. I am hoping you have good news for me."

"I do indeed. The room is essentially finished. There will be a little cleaning up but it will be completed and we'll be out of here before noon. Will noon be a good time for the grand tour?"

"I think that will work nicely." Harry approved.

"Finally, we get to see what you have been sneaking into your special room." Hermione exclaimed then blushed. "Sorry, did I say that out loud?"

"Yes, you did." Harry grinned at her.

"There are a few goblins at Gringotts who would like to join the tour, it you don't have any problems?"

"I'm trusting their discretion. I'm not sure that I want this room to be common knowledge just yet."

"I'll ensure they are aware of that."

"How's the room shaping up?"

"It's exceeding all my expectations, and I believe it will exceed all of yours."

"I look forward to viewing your talents first hand."

"Thank you." Lictand bowed and left via the fireplace.

"Special room? Would it be inappropriate to ask if I may join this tour?" Lord Greengrass asked.

"I'll be trusting in your discretion as well, but I don't see a problem. It will be an experience, of that I can assure you."

"Should I wait here are return at noon?"

"Either is fine. You may want your own broom though."

Lord Greengrass raised his eyebrows, but called one of his house-elves and asked him to bring a broom.

"My next appointment will be here shortly or I would escort you personally. Daphne, Susan and Hannah are in the lounge if you wish to join them."

Daphne nodded. May I show my father around this floor a little?"

"Of course. I'll join you soon, I hope?" Harry watched the two leave.

"That went extremely well." Hermione commented.

"It did." Harry collapsed back on to the couch.

Hermione and Ginny joined him. "Ready for the next meeting." Hermione asked.

"Do I have a choice?"

"Nope."

"How long?"

"About 5 minutes."

Harry sighed. "Too soon then."

"Sorry, nothing I can do about that."

Harry glared at her but she just ignored it.

They sat in silence for a minute before Harry suddenly called for Dobby.

"What can Dobby do for Master Harry?" The perpetually happy house-elf asked as he appeared.

"I need you to get a message to Luna and Auror's Tonks, Shacklebolt and Jones. Ask them to come here at noon for the tour, and to bring their brooms."

"Yes Master Harry. At once." Dobby vanished.

"Well spotted. I had forgotten she wasn't here and didn't know about the tour." Hermione said.

"Thanks."

They waited in silence until the floo flared signalling Tracy's arrival.

"Hi Tracy, how's it going?" Harry greeted the Slytherin girl.

"I'm good. Everything's good. There are two things, my happiness and the title. If you assure him that you are concerned with my happiness then I think just the title will be enough for him for the business side of things." Tracy spoke hurriedly getting straight down to business.

"Thanks. I'm sorry you're in this position."

"So am I, but it's not your fault. I just glad to know that both you and my father are interested in my happiness and aren't going to force anything."

Harry nodded.

Tracy nodded back. "I always hoped that he wanted that but it was nice that he confirmed it last night. Here he comes now."

The fireplace had flared once more and Tracy's father emerged.

"Good morning Mr Davis. I trust you are well."

"Good morning to you to young lady, I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage."

"I apologise. I am Lord Harry Potter, and I believe that you will agree that the young lady remark is not entirely appropriate."

"Lord Potter, I apologise for my informality." Mr Davis bowed.

"Not at all. I prefer it. Allow me to introduce Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley. Please take a seat, we have much to discuss."

"Indeed we do. It is a pleasure to meet you both, I know of Arthur Weasley at the Ministry; he has a good reputation even if he is fascinated by muggles. Although my opinion of muggles may have to change if what my daughter told me of her trip yesterday is true."

"You doubt her word?" Hermione asked.

"Not at all, it is just very different to all my previous opinions; I need some time to consider my facts. You are also known to me. Your name has come up in conversation many times when my daughter is discussing her Hogwarts classes, usually accompanied by various curses and insults at the fact you bet her scores."

Tracy blushed and glared at her father. "Did you have to say that?"

"No, but I did anyway." Mr Davis turned back to Harry. "My daughter didn't give me many details. As you saw I have only just learnt your identity. I assume it was you behind the ward upgrades my family received."

"Yes. I appreciated Tracy's support and when she expressed her concerns on her family's safety I had to help. I was please that I was able to provide as much support as I did."

"May I ask how you were able provide that support? It must have been expensive. You have spent a lot of money recently."

"You read about my donations. I made a small sale to Gringotts that covered all my recent expenses and then some."

"What could you have sold that would cover a million galleon donations to the DMLE and another million to create a fund to protect everyone in the wizarding world?"

"Two millions galleons? Where did you get two million galleons from?" Tracy interrupted.

"Sally." Harry answered.

"How much did you get?"

"Tracy, that was rude." Her father scolded her. "Who's Sally?" He asked Harry.

Harry merely gestured to the shadows at the far end of the room and the massive shape that was emerging from them.

"'Sally' is the basilisk placed in the Chamber of Secrets under Hogwarts by Salazar Slytherin."

"You found it? You actually found the Chamber of Secrets? I spent several years looking for it while I was at Hogwarts. I don't know of many students who didn't try at least once."

"I only tried once. It wasn't hard if you had the necessary information. Not as hard as fighting the basilisk anyway."

"I can believe that." Mr Davis tore his gaze away from the massive skeletal snake. "Getting back to business."

He took a few deep shaky breaths. "Now, umm. Right. I want to know exactly what the situation between you and my daughter is. I care very deeply for my daughter and my family."

"I appreciate that. Tracy and several other girls swore an oath to me to assist me in a task. The exact nature of which I am sure you can take a guess at."

"I'm not sure I want to." Mr Davis shuddered. "I'm surprised that my daughter chose to get involved."

"She was the most reluctant of the girls, but I was not the one who persuaded her, that was mostly Ginny and Daphne."

"Daphne Greengrass? How many times have you had this conversation?"

"This will be the third. I have another meeting after this as well."

"A busy morning for you."

"Yes." Harry leant forward. "Let me get to the point. I have no interest in forcing Tracy or any of the other girls to remain with me if neither of us is happy about it. Nor do I have any interest in causing your family any problems."

"I appreciate that. How do we resolve this situation?"

"I don't know all of the details. You are aware that I have a couple of spare titles I don't really want."

"Yes. Would you really be willing to give a title to my family?"

"I don't really want to have anything to do to those families anyway. If I don't give then away then I will disestablish them and merge their assets with the two families I want to keep."

"How many families to you control?" Mr Davis looked a little bewildered.

"Four. Potter, Black, Malfoy and Lestrange." Harry answered.

"Oh, pick the Malfoy family. I want to rub Pansy's face in it." Tracy blurted.

"Tracy?" Harry looked at her in surprise.

Tracy blushed and retreated into the couch.

"Well, she has picked out the title she wants." Harry commented lightly.

"Yes." Mr Davis grinned at his embarrassed daughter. "To business then. How do you propose we handle this?"

"I recently agreed with Lord Greengrass to give each other first choice in any new or updated business deals. I'm willing to make a similar offer to you."

"A simple but generous offer. One I will graciously accept, is this on the condition of you and my daughter finding happiness together?"

"No. This agreement can remain. I'm willing to make you my proxy and advisor regarding the business matters relating to the family you choose to merge with, though I understand if you want to delay taking up the position until certain 'issues' are resolved."

"For how long?"

"Until Tracy is ready to take over. I'm aware that she has a preference for becoming a healer. I was planning on running the families businesses as a group with those who remain with me. We will assist her in managing the business aspect, although she will remain in direct control. I have no interest or desire to take the family away from her."

"And the Davis family will continue through her." Mr Davis whispered. He spoke up. "The last thing I want is for my family to disappear the way so many others have. This agreement has the potential to ensure my family's survival. Provided that the war against you-know-who is resolved in our favour."

"That is my intent. Have we reached an agreement?"

"I believe we do. We have a business partnership for all new deals where we offer the other a choice on all contracts. Conditional on you and Tracy agreeing to continue the marriage, we have a merger between the Davis family and the Malfoy family."

"That is a good summary. What about the proxy?" Harry asked.

"It is a tempting offer but I do not wish to place my family in danger by claiming the Malfoy title. I believe that it would be premature to place that sort of attention on my family."

"Fair enough. I can find someone else to act as a proxy. You don't want to know any more about the Malfoy family first?"

"I already know enough for the time being. Lucius Malfoy bullied his way into a number of deals I was working on, taking most of the profits for himself. There was nothing I could do about it and if I told anyone I would lose out on other deals. He basically used me to make all the best deals. This will be the perfect payback."

"I did wonder how he managed to get such a large annual income. That explains a lot." Harry mused. "I wonder who else has been victimised by him."

"A large number of people I would imagine. When he ended up in Azkaban I expect there were a number of celebrations. How did you end up with his family? Doesn't he have a son?"

"He did, until he decided to cast a killing curse inside of Gringotts in front of several senior goblins."

"That is a stupid way to die." Mr Davis shook his head.

"That's been the general consensus. Is there anything else?"

"Not right at the moment. I imagine that Tracy will be spending a large amount of time here this summer."

"Yes. There are several things we are trying to do and learn."

"That's acceptable. I have no issues if she wishes to spend the night either. You will have separate rooms?"

"Yes. We have enough room upstairs for each of the girls to have their own room."

"Excellent. I know where she will be if she doesn't come home. How long do you think you will need to decide if you wish to remain together?"

"I don't know, nor do I really want to place a time frame on it. I would expect that we will graduate first though."

"Understandable, you're all in a complicated situation. I'll give you both the time you need to make the right decision for yourselves."

"Thank you. That is appreciated." Harry bowed in place.

Mr Davis paused thoughtfully. "Thank you Lord Potter. I was facing the loss of my family and you have not only given my family a new life but a new future as well. It's more than I could ever have hoped for my daughter. I hope you both find happiness with each other."

"You're welcome. I hope we both find happiness as well." Harry flushed. "Tracy's happiness is important to me too, as is everyone else's."

"Well, we are both very busy people. I will bid you good-day and thank you again." Mr Davis rose. "I will see you tonight Tracy."

"Good- day to you too, Mr Davis. Thank you for being so understanding." Harry also rose to properly see his visitor out.

Watching his guest step through the floo to leave, Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "That went much better than I expected."

"I agree, although once he knew that you only wanted what was best for me, I think that he was willing to be very reasonable." Tracy said.

"We have a bit of time before the Patil's arrive, shall we join the others?" Hermione asked.

"Other's. Who else is here?" Tracy asked.

"Susan and Hannah arrived early. Daphne is here as well and her father stayed for the grand tour at noon." Harry answered.

"It's finally going to happen then huh? I can't wait." Tracy grinned.

"Neither can the rest of us." Hermione gave a light glare at Harry before returning her attention to Tracy. "Why did you want the Malfoy family title? What does Parkinson have to do with it?"

"Pansy has been gloating about how she is going to marry Draco. About how we will have to call her 'Lady Malfoy'. Really annoying I can assure you." Tracy's displeasure was obvious. "I just wanted to rub it in her face a little."

"Understandable." Hermione led the way to the lounge where the others were waiting.

"Hi Tracy. How did it go?" Daphne greeted her friend was they entered the lounge.

"Hi Daph. It went really well." Tracy replied.

"Glad to hear it."

Harry collapsed in a chair and dropped the papers on the table next to him. "I need a break."

"You need to read those letters from Dumbledore." Hermione interrupted him.

Harry grumbled but pulled out the two letters and opened them.

Reading through them he snorted. "Not totally unexpected."

"What do they say?" Ginny asked.

"The one from Friday basically says that I need to get home immediately. It's not safe to be running around. Need to strengthen the wards. Blah, blah, blah." Harry turned to the other letter. "This one is basically telling me off. Money is not worth my life. I mustn't waste my money. I need to get back home where he can protect me. Tell him where I am immediately. Need I go on?"

"No. How are you going to reply?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not sure I'm going to. I think that completely ignoring him would be the best way to annoy him."

"You're probably right. He does like everyone thinking that he's really important." Hermione grinned at him.

"You know, I would have thought that you would be totally under Dumbledore's influence." Lord Greengrass commented.

"I used to be but I found that he was not really acting in my best interests." Harry replied. "Add to that the fact that I can't say that I found his protection that good. I have no reason to obey him; he's only my school headmaster."

Lord Greengrass nodded in acknowledgement.

Harry collapsed back in his chair and closed his eyes. "Warn me when it's time for the next meeting."

"Okay Harry." Hermione nodded.

They relaxed quietly, letting Harry rest.

"It's time." Hermione gave Harry's shoulder a gentle shake.

Harry opened his eyes and nodded. "Later everyone."

He, Hermione and Ginny returned to the entrance hall to await the arrival of the Patil's.

The fireplace flared a couple of minutes later and the Padma Patil stepped out with her father.

"Lord Patil, I am Lord Potter. Welcome. It's good to see you again Padma. Please have a seat." Harry greeted his guests.

"Lord Potter? It looks like it should be Lady Potter. Why should I deal with you?" Lord Patil looked at Harry scornfully.

"I may have under gone some physical changes but I remain Lord Harry Potter." Harry was getting angry.

Sally respond to Harry's anger and Lord Patil's threatening behaviour and moved forward out of the shadows.

"What is that?" Lord Patil saw the movement and pulled his wand.

"That?" Harry looked over his shoulder. "Oh, that's just Sally, my guardian. You may want to put your wand away and sit before she decides that you're a threat."

"Where did you get that from?"

"That's the skeletal remains of the millennia old basilisk that I defeated in the Chamber of Secrets a few years ago." Harry replied nonchalantly. "Shall we sit?"

He didn't reply but did sit opposite Harry with Padma joining Hermione and Ginny off to the side.

Sally settled down but remained visible, off to the side and behind Harry where she could see Lord Patil over Harry's shoulder properly.

"Lord Potter, let's move past these inane pleasantries. You have married my daughter without my permission. I find this rude and embarrassing, especially as I've been in negotiations with another Lord back in India. I should disown her for this but she has indicated that you are willing to make an offer for her. Please make it quickly." Lord Patil stated trying to ignore the giant snake on the edge of his vision.

"Very well. I understand you've been offered two hundred thousand galleons and the opportunity for an heir to the Patil line."

"That is correct. It seems my daughter has been rather forth coming to you. Your offer?"

"I'm willing to match the money. Half will be yours immediately. I'm also willing to sponsor you for a seat on the Wizengamot. These are yours unconditionally. There are three other conditional offers. You will receive the other half of the money; all of her children will continue the Patil line and the Patil family will join the two other families as a preferred candidate for future business deals for the four families that I control."

"And the conditions?"

"The oath Padma made to me that caused this situation is not yet permanent. I have no intent on forcing her to be with me if it will make either of us unhappy. I you to agree that we will have the time we need to find out if we will be happy together and that if we find that we won't, that we can cancel the oath with no repercussions against either of us."

"Interesting." Lord Patil nodded thoughtfully. "Why should I agree to that?"

"The benefits far outweigh the costs. It would be irrational not to agree to it."

"Why do you care so much for the girl's happiness?"

"She is a person and my friend. She deserves the chance to be happy, and as my friend I wish to help her achieve happiness. You should not be treating her in such a fashion."

"She has no other value than to ensure my family's continued success and prosperity."

"So you want more money then?" Harry was getting disgusted at the other mans attitude.

"That would help. Another hundred thousand up front should see my way clear to allow you to follow your small minded ambitions."

"Very well. As long as Padma remains the heir to your family and I will be expecting your cooperation on several votes in the Wizengamot."

"I expected that. Very well, it would be better in her hands than her sister's." Lord Patil finally agreed. "How long do you want to decide you and her will be happy together." He sneered slightly.

"Four years at a minimum. We need to worry about Voldemort and graduation before this decision can be made."

"Very well."

"I believe we have a deal. I will have the contracts drawn up this week. Is there anything else?" Harry was hoping there wasn't.

"No I believe that is enough. I will expect the contract in a few days. Will Padma be living here?"

"There will always be a room here for her. She will be visiting often, I trust that will be okay." Harry wasn't asking.

"Yes. Good-day Lord Potter." Lord Patil stood and left without another word.

"Good-day to you too, you arrogant arse." Harry said after the flames had died.

"Harry." Hermione scolded him. "Not strong enough. I can't believe he treats his own daughters like that."

"Women are not highly valued in the Magical Indian culture." Padma explained. "Thank you for defending me and placing a high importance on my happiness. My father is probably at home laughing about how much money he got out of you."

"If we decide to be together I get it back with interest, where is the loss?" Harry grinned. "All I really want is for you and everyone else to be happy."

Padma smiled back. "Thank you. Is it alright if I move in though? Parvati was not happy at missing out on the shopping trip yesterday. Moving in here is probably the only way to keep her out of my new clothes."

"Like I said, we have plenty of room upstairs. Pick a room and decorated it. You can hide your new clothes here." Harry grinned.

Padma grinned back. "I can't wait to see her expression when she wants to borrow something and can't find them."

"Come on." Hermione said through her laughter. "Let's join the others. Harry's special room is nearly ready. We're having the grand tour at noon. Do you have your broom stick?"

"Yes, and I snuck out several books I think may be useful."

"Cool. Let's go." Harry started for the door. "Dobby?"

"Yes Master Harry? How can Dobby help you?" The house-elf popped in.

"Can you bring refreshments to the lounge please?"

"Of course Master Harry. Right away." Dobby popped out.

"You shouldn't really take advantage of him." Hermione scolded Harry.

"I think he'd be upset if I didn't. He'd think that I don't want him."

"I know, which is why I'm not making such a big issue of this." Hermione replied in a resigned voice.

"I'd hate to see her make a big fuss." Padma whispered to Ginny.

"It's entertaining to watch, when it's not directed at you." Ginny whispered back.

"I heard that." Hermione glared at the whispering pair.

Ginny and Padma shut up and tried to look innocent.

They entered the lounge.

"How did it go?" Susan greeted them.

Harry collapsed back into his chair. "I got what I wanted but I don't like him. Not one little bit. His views on women are disgusting."

"Padma will be okay?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah. I managed to get that. I just need to get the contract written up."

"So what's next for today?" Daphne asked.

"The tour. Susan, have you asked your aunt about Occlumency lessons? I keep forgetting."

"Not yet. She's been so busy over the last few days that you've probably seen more of her than I have."

"So she may not have time." Harry slumped. "Who else can we ask?"

"You could ask me." Lord Greengrass spoke up. "Both I and my wife are skilled at Occlumency. She has more time than I do so she would be the better choice. She was hoping for a way to say thank you for the trip yesterday. I think she will find this a fair trade."

"There are certain things that I know that must be kept private." Harry looked at Lord Greengrass intently.

"A good teacher can teach without invading the student's privacy."

"So what was Snape doing?" Harry mused.

"Professor Snape was teaching you? Doesn't he hate you?" Daphne asked.

"He does, with a passion, but Dumbledore decided that Snape would be the best person to teach me." Harry grumbled. "He didn't tell me anything other than 'clear your mind' before launching a full force attack."

"That won't work." Lord Greengrass replied looking aghast. "That is basically just a way of torturing you."

His look was shared by Daphne and Susan.

"I didn't think his lessons did me much good." Harry sighed. "So what else is new?"

"I will talk to my wife when I get home. If you let Daphne know when you are available they should be able to work something out. She will definitely be the best choice. She has a much lighter touch, which will be important to help you recover from his abuse."

"Thank you. I really appreciate that." Harry thanked him sincerely.

"When will you finish with the basilisk teeth and hide?" Hermione asked.

"Ah yes. I meant to tell you. The age and size of the basilisk has slowed the processing. Of the shed skins only seven are viable. The oldest two are suitable only as potion ingredients but the others will make good armour though. I always thought the basilisk skin was an equal to dragon hide for strength. It turns out that it is better. Even the oldest of the useable shed skins are to dragon hide. The basilisk hide itself is so strong that I almost feel like if I was in a suit of armour made of it I could stand in front of the Dark Lord and insult him without fear."

"Call him Tom. He hates that." Harry commented, deep in thought. "How do you think we should proceed?"

"You're all still young. I would hold off on getting the hide made into armour until you have finished growing. The second shed skin will be sufficient until then. The best shed skin would make fine armour for close allies and the non-combatants of your inner circle."

"I'll think on it, thank you. What of the teeth?"

"The smaller teeth will be finished tomorrow. The larger teeth have posed a problem. I don't think that we will be able to remove all the poison. They will be safe to touch but if they break the skin then the poison will enter the body. Death will occur within seconds. Totally unsuitable for potion making but they could make good weapons."

"Could you make knives out of them?" Harry asked.

"Very easily. And they'll be very strong knives as well. Let me know when you have some designs."

"The poison, is it still potent enough to destroy a Horcrux?" Harry leant forward in interest.

"Yes. We have been finding that these teeth are just retaining the poison. We have managed to remove the poison at a surface level but a strike just brings it back to the surface. You'll find it suitable for that purpose. It's the safest option as well. Magical methods involve either incredible dangerous and nearly uncontrollable spells or releasing the soul within and trying to destroy it before it takes you over."

Harry nodded, relieved. "And the cost?"

"With the discounts for the ward upgrade and the fact that you are family at the moment, I think one hundred galleons will cover everything."

"I will organise payment as soon as I can."

"No rush." Lord Greengrass wave absently. "I don't expect to be paid until I deliver the hides."

"Doesn't everything Harry has done for you more than cover any expense you incurred processing the skin and fangs?" Daphne asked her father.

"Yes, but I believe that Lord Potter is the sort of person who would be uncomfortable if I was to just wave the fee. One hundred galleons is a minimal fee for the services rendered." Lord Greengrass replied.

"You are right about that." Harry commented. "Thank you for being so considerate."

"You are welcome, Lord Potter." Lord Greengrass.

"Please, Harry is sufficient."

"Not used to your title yet?" Lord Greengrass chuckled.

"I have too many of them." Harry grumbled. "I'm more worried about forgetting my own name."

"Not a problem I have. May I ask you a question?"

"Of course, can't guarantee an answer though?"

"What changes were you thinking of making in the wizarding world?" Lord Greengrass leant forward in interest.

"There are several things I'd like to change. The most important one is to remove the prejudice from the wizarding world. The laws and social opinion place many people as being less worthy. The prejudice is what allows Dark Lords to gain so much power so easily. They choose something that is easy to hate. 'Muggle-borns are taking power away of the purebloods' and many of the old families join the cause of Voldemort. He and the other Dark Lords have done more damage to this world that any other."

"That's true. That is why I wish for my family to remain neutral. I fear that may no longer be an option though."

"It's silly really. Werewolves, centaurs and many other magical creatures really just wish to be left alone. It's the harsh laws enacted by the Ministry out of fear and hatred that push them to join evil because they promise them freedom. Muggle-borns are pushed out in favour of purebloods. The wizarding world is destroying itself in every way imaginable."

"I agree. But the size of the change will be hard to push through. Even for you."

"Not if you know how to sell it. Would you like to make more money?" Hermione entered the conversation.

"Of course." Lord Greengrass turned his attention to the young Muggle-born girl.

"If more of the magical creatures and Muggle-borns remained in the magical world and can earn money than there are more customers to sell to. More customers mean more income." Hermione explained. "Even the Muggle-Born and Half-Bloods who choose to work in the non-magical world will return to spend money more often. These laws are costing you and everyone else money. What do you gain?"

"Now that is a sale's pitch." Lord Greengrass nodded.

"Is your power, the power of the Ministry and Wizengamot and the family Lords so delicate that allowing the Muggle-born and magical creatures to earn their own place would shatter it." Harry took up the thread on conversation, bringing his intense green eyes to bear on the Lord. "If so then it deserves to shatter and a new world forged from its remains, one where people are judged by their actions and talents not the actions of their distant ancestors. What have you achieved, Lord Greengrass? Or do you too just spout the achievements of your predecessors?"

"I could be highly insulted by that statement, in fact I probably should. But I understand what you are asking. You're right; I too rest on the laurels of my ancestors. I believe only people like Albus Dumbledore have earned their reputation on their own merits. We just don't do that anymore." Lord Greengrass sighed. "My daughter will be remembered while I will not. While I am proud that she has the potential, opportunity and drive to make such an achievement, I am disappointed in myself that I never tried to do the same." He smiled fondly at his daughter.

"Should you be treated better because of your ancestors? I am not saying that you should lose what they have left you. Family legacies are important; I know that better than most. But you understand the point I am making."

"I do. I'm not yet ready to fully commit myself to your cause but I will not oppose it. Perhaps I should spend some time in the muggle world. My wife and daughter came back with a whole new opinion of Muggles after one shopping trip. Perhaps the change in perspective will aid me in seeing more clearly."

"I don't think it would hurt. You must reach your own conclusions, but I think you'll agree with me." Harry nodded.

"You're probably right. I just need time."

"Speaking of time, what time is it?" Harry asked.

"Ooh, its five to twelve." Hermione looked at her watch. "We should head to the entrance hall; the others will be arriving soon."

Harry nodded and stood. "Let's go then."

The others followed him to the entrance hall and sat on the couches.

"Dobby?" Harry called, summoning the house-elf. "Can you bring our brooms please?"

"At once Master Harry." Dobby vanished and return moments later with Harry's and Ginny's brooms.

"Ginny, can I fly with you, please. I don't trust Harry's flying." Hermione asked.

"Sure." Ginny replied.

"Gee, thanks." Harry huffed good naturedly.

The fireplace started flaring as people started coming through. Luna, Tonks, Kingsley, Jones and several goblins as expected. There were several unexpected as well. An older lady came through with Tonks. Amelia Bones stepped through and so did Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour.

"Hey Ginny." Bill greeted his little sister.

"Hey Bill, what're you doing here?"

"Using my family connection with you and Harry to sneak into this tour. Fleur came with me." Bill grinned cheekily. "Lictand's been boasting of his achievements here so there's been a lot of competition to come here for the tour."

Ginny swatted her brother's arm. "It's good to see you too."

Tonks waited with the older lady while Harry greeted Amelia and the other Aurors and the goblin delegation.

Harry bowed as he was introduced to the head of Gringotts.

Finally Harry turned to Tonks. "Wotcher Tonks. How're you doing?"

"Good thanks." Tonks grinned then sobered up. "May I introduce my mother, Andromeda Tonks."

"You may indeed. It's a pleasure to meet you. I trust Tonks relayed my offer to you."

"Yes she did. I wished to accept in person. I don't know how to repay you." Andromeda said.

"I need someone to act as my proxy in the Wizengamot on behalf of the Black family. I want to redeem their reputation for Sirius. Interested?" Harry grinned.

"Certainly. I would be honoured to aid in redeeming my family name. I have one small issue though. I have an unexpected house guest. My sister Narcissa has been forced to find lodgings elsewhere. She has been cast out of her family home by the new Lord Malfoy. For some reason her son's not even been in touch with her?"

"Draco Malfoy is dead. He's been for several days." Harry's expression turned grim.

"So who is the new Lord Malfoy?" Andromeda was confused.

Harry ignored the question. "What do you want doing with her?"

"She's my sister and I love her, even after everything, but she needs a major kick up the arse. She may have been sorted into Slytherin but she was nearly a Hufflepuff. If you can get her loyalty then she will be trustworthy."

"Interesting. If you have any ideas how to approach her like that, let me know."

"Okay, but why?" Andromeda was hoping that Harry would ease her confusion.

Harry just grinned and turned to address the crowd.

"Welcome everyone. There are a few more people here than I had anticipated. We are all here to witness firsthand the creation that was born between myself and Master Craftsman Lictand. Master Lictand and his team have worked tirelessly to make our vision a reality. Now, without further adieu let us go witness this construction for ourselves."

Harry shouldered his broom and led the way to the World Room. Opening the door he walked in.

The door opened into a long room with windows lining the far wall. Walking up to them Harry looked out over the massive landscape. It was better than he had ever expected. Harry looked around the room and saw everyone had entered. He could also see stair leading both up and down near the door back to the extension.

"Everyone. Welcome to the World Room." Harry gestured grandly towards the windows.

Everyone gathered against the glass and gazed out on the wilderness.

"It all that really out there?" Hermione asked.

"Yep." Harry replied cheerfully. "Follow me, I trust you all brought your brooms as I suggested. You might get sore feet otherwise."

Harry led the way up the stairs and onto the balcony on the roof of the building.

"Still think it's just a picture?" Harry asked.

"No." Hermione looked around. "Hey, is that a Quidditch stadium?"

"Yes, I snuck one in. It's one of many training areas. Over there in the distance to the right is a mountain area for training in the mountains and snow. Closer is a muggle training area. A school, housing area, and some business areas, including the tall multi story buildings you can see. There is also a partial replica of Diagon Alley. Towards the centre is a mix of forests, rolling hills and open fields."

"And a golf course." Emily interrupted. "Daniel, what do you think you are doing? Getting Harry to build you a golf course. How could you?" She scolded her husband.

"Actually, his idea was the key. When he mentioned it I began thinking about having more than just a Quidditch pitch. I began thinking that we could have a complex training area. One that could be used for fun as well."

Harry paused and looked out over the landscape.

"While each area has the potential for training in different environments, they also have recreational facilities. The mountain area has a ski lodge and fields. The school has all the usual muggle sports fields. A golf course across the central area here. Behind the golf course are more fields and some replica wizarding style manors and a replica of Hogsmeade and a castle wall. Finally over on the left are sand dunes and a beach with a resort. This building is the '19th Hole' a muggle term for the club house associated with the golf course. It also acts as a store room for all the equipment for enjoying each of the areas."

"This is most impressive." Madam Bones looked around in awe.

"You have the best training facility I've ever seen." Kingsley added.

Lictand joined Harry. "Over here we have some controls to adjust the weather of the room. Wind, rain, snow are all options. You can either set if its night or day and whether it's overcast or clear, full moon or no moon or anything in between. The buildings, landscape and even the vegetation is spelled to repair itself if damaged, reducing the maintenance requirements."

"Shall we have a look around?" Harry mounted his broom. "Who's with me?"

"No one who's seen you fly." Hannah fired back as she mounted her own broom.

This caused the other girls to laugh.

The goblins assembled an odd flat device which carried them all including the house-elves, who were being instructed on how care for the world.

They group took off and began flying around the wide open expanse. They cruised over the muggle area and swooped through the Diagon Alley replica. They climbed up into the mountains and looked at the lodge and ski fields. They followed the mountains part the massive waterfall which feed the river that flowed across the landscape to coastline and over the castle replica. Looking at the single outer wall and the partial inner wall and towers carved out of the mountain side. They headed towards the Hogsmeade replica and then the wizarding manors. They flew over the forests, fields and sand dunes until they reached the beach and the resort. They backtracked slightly to fly over the golf course and Quidditch stadium on their way back to the club house.

"So, do you like it?" Harry asked once they had all landed.

Tonks broke the silence by clapping. Hermione, then Ginny, then the rest of the girls joined in. The goblins pushed Lictand out next to Harry and joined in the applause. It didn't take long for everyone to be clapping, showing their appreciation to Harry and Lictand.

Harry and Lictand shared a grin and shook each other's hands before taking a bow to the assembled witches, wizards and goblins.

"I think we were a success." Harry commented to Lictand.

"I think you're right." Lictand replied.

"What do we do now?"

"Wait for everyone to stop clapping?"

"That could take a while."

"I know. Should we stop them?"

"Yes. The Assessor will want to start my training session soon and I'd like to eat lunch first."

"I organised a meal for everyone. When we decided on the time I thought that providing a meal would be advisable."

"You're doing better than me this morning."

"I haven't had as many issues to handle this morning." Lictand grinned at Harry. "I will order lunch to be served. Where do you think we should eat?"

"We could picnic down near the beach. Not on the sand, just next to it. And thank you."

"That sounds a like a good idea. Give me five minutes then announce lunch." Lictand moved off.

Harry nodded and turned back to the still applauding crowd. "Okay, that's enough. I can't begin to tell you how much you have just moved me. Well, the tour is over, lunch will be served soon if you wish to remain. Umm. Feel free to chat amongst yourselves." Harry finished uncomfortably.

There were a few chuckles but they broke up into smaller groups.

Harry was accosted by Hermione, her parents and the other girls.

"I have to say, I am impressed." Hermione complemented Harry. "But I get the feeling that this place is not as much for training as you make out."

"So you can guarantee that we won't be fighting in the snow or on the sand." Harry asked pointedly.

"Umm. Okay. But the resort and lodge?"

"Different styles of structures to help us prepare for indoor combat or combat in confined quarters."

"You have an answer for everything don't you?" Hermione huffed.

"I do, don't I? Sorry, I seem to be taking your job." Harry teased her.

Hermione just huffed again while the other girls giggled.

"I think this place is wonderful." Ginny gushed. "You've really done an incredible job on it."

"I agree." Daphne added. "This place is amazing."

The other girls added their own complements.

"Now I feel embarrassed." Harry was turning red. "Come on, let's go to lunch."

Harry looked out towards the beach and saw that the picnic was setup.

"Lunch is ready everyone." Harry called out.

Everyone flew down to the picnic and dug in.

Tonks and Andromeda managed to pull Harry to one side as they ate.

"So Harry, quite the rabbit you pulled out of the hat. I'm very impressed. I think you have a magnificent training ground here. I think that we will make very good use of it." Tonks complemented Harry.

"You asked Nymphadora to train you?" Andromeda asked.

"Mum, don't call me that." Tonks complained.

"Why not? It's your name isn't it?"

"Maybe, but I hate it. Please stop using it."

"I think it's a very pretty name for you and I will use it as much as I like."

Harry chuckled.

"Shut up Harry." Tonks snapped.

Smack.

"Oww." Tonks grabbed her head and glared at her mother. "What'd you do that for?"

"That is no way to speak to your Head of Family." Andromeda quietly scolded her daughter.

"Don't worry about it Mrs Tonks." Harry grinned. "It's nice to see her getting yelled at for a change. Normally she'd be yelling at us."

"Honesty, Nymphadora. You really need to learn how to behave." Andromeda continued scolding Tonks.

"Yes, mother." Tonks answered tiredly.

"So, Harry, when do you wish for me to swear my oath to you?" Andromeda asked.

"I don't need you to do that." Harry was surprised by the offer.

"It's traditional." Andromeda replied. "We need a small ceremony for our return to the family and our acceptance of you as our new Lord. After that you can provide me a letter of proxy form Lord Black so that I act on your behalf in the Wizengamot. Actually it might be easier if I write it and you sign and seal it."

Harry nodded. "Yes, but later please. I will be busy this afternoon."

"Excellent, we shall leave you in peace. Come along Tonks." Andromeda rose and moved away.

"Just remember that I'll be training you Harry. Major payback time." Tonks growled as she followed her mother.

Amelia, Kingsley and Hestia stopped by next.

"Well Harry, quite the training ground you have here. I wish I had something like this when I was training." Kingsley complemented.

"Thanks." Harry replied. "Although it was more just a case of one thing leading to another."

"Doesn't matter how. The results are what matter. And results are what you seem to achieve."

"I agree." Amelia concurred with her subordinate. "This will make a magnificent training facility. I would like to find out how well it works. I will expect reports from the both of you and Tonks." Amelia finished as she address Kingsley and Hestia.

"Yes, Madam Bones." Kingsley nodded.

"If it goes well, I may invest in one of these for the DMLE."

"I almost wish I was a new recruit." Kingsley grinned.

"Almost." Amelia grinned back.

"Good luck with your training Harry. I need to leave. I need to work on how to approach the Wizengamot for Umbridge's trial so that Fudge can't stop it."

"If you need any help, please ask." Harry offered.

"I will take you up on that when the time is right." Amelia assured him as she left.

"When do we start your training?" Kingsley asked. "The sooner we start the better."

"Monday." Harry stated. "Is 10am alright?"

"We should start earlier. 5:30am." Kingsley countered. "And are the others going to join?"

"I already get up at 5:30am and have a training session at 6am. I will need time to finish my run after it and have breakfast. I don't know about the others, they will need to learn but will the training you give me be right for them?"

"Good, you are already running. Perhaps they should only watch and you can teach them. I understand you have already had some practice at that. Work something out. What's your morning training session?"

"You'll find out." Harry grinned. "I don't want to reveal all my secrets at once. So you think I should run a DA summer school for the girls. What's Dumbledore up to out of curiosity?"

"Constant Vigilance, as Moody always yells." Kingsley nodded. "Teaching others can help ensure that you understand the lesson yourself. Dumbledore has been interesting. Don't worry; we are not sharing any of this with Dumbledore. You have Amelia's support and your donation to the DMLE and the Warding fund provoked an interesting reaction from Dumbledore. He was most upset that you hadn't gone to your aunt and uncle's home. I think he wanted you to throw your support behind him."

"Not likely. His heart may be in the right place but I think he's less than effective."

"Explain. I'm not going to disagree but I would like to hear your reasoning."

"When muggles fight they don't have an issue killing the enemy. They may not like it but they do it when they have to. Dumbledore is saying 'do not kill under any circumstances'. We can't win. Not like that. I'm not talking about using the Killing Curse but we need to strike back and put them on the defensive."

"I know. Moody and I have had this discussion with him already, several times. He refuses to move on it. Maybe you should start your own faction. We'll join you and I think Moody will as well."

"Remus will probably join as well." Harry mused. "I'll think about it, if Amelia is in charge then I'm sure the Auror's will be functioning properly and a new group may not be needed. What else is happening with the Order? If you can tell me?"

"You-know-who hasn't made any movements at all that we're aware of. Snape hasn't been summoned since the Ministry. Amelia has been totally amazing. She had the Death Eater's we captured at the Ministry under Veritaserum the next day while Fudge was still recovering from having seen you-know-who in person. She used the information and had several people in the Ministry arrested that day. She's also had several more marked Death Eaters picked up in Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade and in the Ministry itself. She's being very closed mouth as to how they were found though. She just grins a lot when people ask."

Harry grinned at that.

"That. That's the grin. What do you know?" Kingsley demanded.

"A few things, but that one I'm not permitted to share."

"Keep your secrets then. About the only other thing is Dumbledore's insistence that we all find you as soon as possible, I think he's too focused on you. Molly's having a meltdown on your and Ginny's whereabouts. We're also having to meet at Hogwarts. Until we know who owns Headquarters Dumbledore has decided that it's unsafe to use."

"So no one's there?" Harry asked.

"Only Kreacher."

Harry nodded. "Thanks."

"Do you know who owns it now?" Hestia asked.

The grin returned.

Hestia rolled her eyes. "I can see we won't get anything out of you. Just wait till we start training you, we'll get out of you even if we have to torture you."

"Bring it on!" Harry challenged.

"Don't worry, we will." Hestia rose. "See you tomorrow."

"You should know that Dumbledore's probably going to start visiting your friends and asking them for your whereabouts. He will probably find you tomorrow or Tuesday."

"I knew he would find me eventually. I just wanted to be protected when he did."

"Be careful if you leave the wards. If you want an escort, just floo one of us. Amelia has put us at your disposal for the time being." Kingsley rose.

"Thanks. If I feel I need it I will. See you both tomorrow." Harry bid the Auror's farewell.

Lictand wandered over. "Success. They're all ecstatic about the World Room. Thank you for allowing me to make this a reality."

"Thank you for providing me with this magnificent room. Want to make another?"

Lictand started and stared at Harry. "Are you serious? I know we talked about it earlier but..."

"This is only a temporary home for me. When things are better I'll either move into a home I own or have a new one built." Harry explained.

"Ahhh. May I suggest building a new house? I doubt you will find what you want in any existing house."

"And provide you with another large contract?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"I'd never do that to a Master Warrior. It's just that you provide the most interesting challenges." Lictand assured Harry.

Harry chuckled. "I'll try and continue to provide those challenges."

"We must be off. I know that The Assessor is itching to start your training."

"Thank you for everything. I hope to see you again soon." Harry bowed to the goblin.

Lictand bowed back. "And you as well. Good-bye."

The goblin delegation left.

The Assessor came over. "We'd better start your training session. You have a duelling room?"

"Yes. We're not going to train here?" Harry asked.

"Later, when I work out how to utilise it correctly. The early stages of training are better done in a standard room anyway."

Harry nodded. "One moment. I have one thing I need to do before I change then I'll be right with you."

Harry jogged over to where the girls were chatting and pulled Tracy and Ginny aside.

"I have something for you two to think about as the potential future Lady Malfoy and Lady Black. Mrs Tonks just told me that her sister Narcissa Malfoy is staying with her. Apparently if we can get her on our side she can be very loyal."

"Do we want her on our side?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know yet. But if she does join us she would make a good proxy for the Malfoy family on the Wizengamot and protect Tracy's family."

"Okay." Ginny nodded. "We'll get to work on it. Can we include the others?"

"Yeah, if you want. Thanks." Harry left with The Assessor for the duelling room.

"How are Mrs Tonks and Mrs Malfoy related? Isn't Mrs Tonks that Auror's mother?" He heard Tracy ask Ginny as he left.

"They're sisters, along with Bellatrix Lestrange. They were all Blacks." Ginny explained to her.

"Ouch." Tracy winced.

Harry show The Assessor to the duelling room then dove up to his bedroom to change into clothing more appropriate for exercising and returned to the Duelling room, locking the door behind them so they wouldn't be disturbed.

The Assessor pulled out a bag and removed a pair of large knives and a sword.

"Alright Harry, these are training weapons. They're blunt and weighted so you will have to work harder to control them properly."

"I assume that means that it will be easier to control the real weapons." Harry commented.

"Yes. You will need to adjust for the weight difference but it will be easier."

Harry nodded.

"You already have your sword; I will bring the knives when you are ready for them."

"I actually was going to have a couple made. I just need some designs."

"I can bring some pictures next time if you like. Who are you going to get to make them?"

"The Greengrass's."

"They do good enchantment but they are not particularly good at working metal."

"The knives aren't going to be made of metal."

"Ahh. Basilisk tooth?"

"Good guess."

The Assessor nodded. "A good idea. Especially if they retain the basilisk venom. Still, I will still supply a pair of goblin made knives as well. A second set will not go amiss. You may even want to consider a second sword. You never know when you might need a spare."

"I'll keep that in mind. Where do we start?"

"Where we'll always start, with what you should already know. Now, show me."

Harry nodded and picked up the practice sword. He took the ready position and took a breath to relax himself. He began the routines he had been taught a few days before. Move flowed into move as he relaxed. He finished before he was even aware of it.

"Very good. You are picking this up quicker than I expected. You are relaxing into the movements which is very good. There are no real flaws in your stance or moves, all that you now need is to practice them."

"Thank you."

The Assessor shrugged. "I only showed you the way; you took it with both hands. I'm glad you are putting so much effort into this. Let's move on to something new."

The Assessor began showing Harry a series of new moves for both the sword and knives. Harry proved that his ability to learn the moves quickly last time wasn't a fluke as he just soaked up the new moves and combinations.

"Impressive, you really have a talent for this." The Assessor complemented Harry. "I will assess your progress next week. If you are still progressing this well then I think we can start sparing."

"That will be interesting."

"Indeed. We will see if my old joints can keep up with as youngster like you." The old goblin chuckled.

"Don't worry, I think you'll be able to beat me just fine."

"So do I. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts. If you can apply what you learn as well as you learn it then you are going to be very dangerous very quickly."

"Thank you."

"I'll see you next week, continue practicing."

Harry escorted the old goblin out, watching him vanish through the floo.

"Now to find everyone else." Harry murmured to himself.

He looked in the World Room but they had already left the picnic site. He looked in all the other rooms downstairs but still found no sign of them. Moving upstairs he was checking the library and study when he saw Hannah down the other end of the corridor outside the room next to Hermione's and Ginny's.

"Hey Hannah." He called. "I've been looking for you lot everywhere."

"Hi Harry. We've been decorating our rooms."

"Your rooms?" Harry raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah we pick out some rooms for when we stay over. This one is Daphne's and Tracy's. Susan and I are across the hall. Padma is next door to us. Luna picked the room opposite Hermione and Ginny."

"How are they looking?" Harry move closer to look in the room.

"They pinched your colour."

"Huh?" Harry finally managed to look in the room.

"That looks a familiar colour." The green they used was the same as the feature wall in his room.

"We wanted a green and that was a nice one." Tracy replied absently as she contemplated the location of a desk. "More to the left?"

Daphne nodded and waved her wand shifting the desk.

"I think we've got it." Daphne nodded.

"Can you hurry up and get the rest of your furniture conjured. We need Winky." Hannah asked the two Slytherins.

"Okay, umm. Winky, this bed, this bed, and these sets of drawers." Tracy and Daphne indicated the pictures in the catalogue.

Winky waved her hands and the indicated furniture appeared.

"Come on Winky." Hannah led the happy elf out of the room and across the hall.

"I assume Dobby is with Luna and Padma then." Harry commented.

"Luna. They seem to have found common ground in their odd views."

"Oh lord. I dread to think what they will come up with." Harry covered his eyes.

"I'm definitely avoiding that room." Tracy commented absently as she moved he bed across the room.

"I'll leave you two too it. I'm really of no use to you with this sort of thing." Harry headed for the door.

"And you need a shower." Tracy tossed a gentle grin his way.

Harry looked in on Hannah and Susan and watched for a moment as they worked with Winky to alter the colour scheme of the room.

Moving back to Padma's room he saw Hermione assisting Padma to move the furniture around.

"Interesting, you can tell which house everyone belongs to. Tracy and Daphne have a green feature wall. Hannah and Susan have a yellow theme and Padma has blue trim.

"We like to remain true to who we are. Our house's are a part of what makes us, us." Padma replied as she walked around a dressing table considering how it fit in with everything else.

"True. Just out of curiosity, why are you and Luna in your own rooms and everyone else is sharing?"

"Everyone except me has their own rooms at home and only share at Hogwarts, not quite the same environment. I have always shared with Parvati. It's nice to have a bit of space just for me." Padma shrugged. "In any case, three in a room would be a little tight and I don't know if I could survive sharing with Luna, as much as I like her."

"What's Luna's excuse for her own room?"

"She is your sister, not a wife." Hermione replied.

"Fair enough." Harry took a deep breath. "I suppose I should go and look in on Luna. Is Ginny with her?"

"Yes. She is probably the only person who can withstand close one-on-one contact with her for long periods."

"True. I like Luna and I'm happy and proud to call her my sister, but I do need a little space to process sometimes."

"Good luck. Ginny probably needs rescuing so you had better hurry." Hermione grinned at him.

Harry growled at her but left and headed down the corridor. He reached the last pair of bedroom doors before his own at the end of the hall.

He braced himself and took another deep breath before pushing the door open. He was greeted by a riot of colour. He stepped inside and looked around. Luna, Ginny and Dobby were cheerfully rearranging furniture into odd locations. The room and contents lacked any sort of symmetry. Harry was overwhelmed by the room as he looked around at the flowing irregular features. Then it shifted, a rhythm emerged pulsing. Harry could feel his pulse slowing to match the rhythm of the room and his body began relaxing. Harry actually felt happier as he looked around.

"Wow." He finally managed to articulate.

"Cool isn't it." Ginny grinned. "It takes a minute but once you get the feel of the room it's just amazing."

"I love it. I think I'll be visiting you often. I feel so relaxed in here." Harry praised Luna.

Luna squealed in delight and engulfed Harry in a hug. "Visit as often as you want big sis. I can put a bed in here for you so you can sleep over if you want."

"Thanks. You can sleep over sometimes too, if you want."

"I will, for a little while at least. I don't think that you will want your little sister in the same bed when you are with one of your wives."

Ginny giggled. "She has a point."

Harry blushed at the thought.

"Still, having a sleep over would be fun. I enjoyed last night." Ginny mused.

"You had a sleep over? Without me? You big Meany." Luna pouted.

"It wasn't like that Luna. I had just learnt something disturbing and was really upset so Hermione brought our blankets into Harry's room and we bundled up in them on Harry's bed." Ginny explained.

"Oh. Are you okay?" Luna looked worried.

"Yeah, I'll be okay." Ginny reassured her Ravenclaw friend.

"Okay, I'm glad to hear it." Luna turned back to Harry. "You've had a look, now shoo so we can finish."

Harry grinned. "Okay. Have fun."

Leaving the room Harry shook his head. Luna was unique. There was no other way to describe her.

The effect of Luna's room had left him feeling energetic, too energetic to sit and read. After a quick shower he retrieved his broom from his room he shouldered it and headed back down the corridor, listening to girls discuss how to arrange everything.

Hermione noticed as he went past. "How was it?"

"Surprising. It throws you off balance initially but if you relax and try not to fight the room then after a minute you adjust and the room just revitalises you. Five minutes in there and I feel like a new man."

"Woman." Hermione teased. "I'll have to check it out. I was expecting a total disaster."

"It may look that way but it's incredible well done. Of course, it's still totally Luna."

"I never expected otherwise. Enjoy your flight." Hermione waved him away.

Returning to the World Room Harry mounted his broom and took to the air. He flew through the forest, dodging the trees until he burst out the other side and found himself near the Hogsmeade replica. He grinned and swooped down an alley and out on the main street of the empty village before following the twists and turns of the road to the castle. Over the open drawbridge and through the portcullis Harry came to a halt and looked at the mechanisms to raise and lower them both. The small courtyard ended with the inner wall carved directly into the mountain side.

Harry slowly floated through the inner gate and saw the tunnels off to either side to allow access to the wall and the towers. The inner room disappeared into the darkness forcing Harry to light his wand to continue in. The room ended with a small door on the side of the end wall, nearly lost as it was blended into the wall, disguising it. Harry wouldn't have missed

Curious, Harry opened the door and floated down the tunnel behind it. The tunnel had slightly rough walls but was well made. It was a goblin tunnel. Harry remembered that Lictand had mentioned putting some in the mountain and figured that this must be one end of the underground complex.

He continued down the tunnel for what felt like an age, following the odd twists and turns, until side tunnels began branching off the either side. Harry stuck to the main tunnel, to prevent himself getting lost. He though that, with some preparation, it would be a lot of fun exploring the tunnels on foot with the girls. Lictand had not indicated a size of the tunnel system nor had he provided a plan. They would have to make one themselves, but that could be a lot of fun, even if they had to camp in here for a night. He would have to remember to mention it to the girls and see who would be interested.

The tunnel ended suddenly with small branches off to either side. Harry was tempted to risk exploring further but decided against it in case he couldn't find his way out again. He flipped his broom around and returned the way he came. Holding his lit wand against his broom he leant against the broom and pushed his speed until he was swooping around corners like he was chasing a snitch.

Light grew in the distance signalling the end of the tunnel. He killed his speed as he left the tunnel so he could close the door behind him then flew out of the inner gate and out into the open air. Following the mountain range back around towards the ski field, Harry kept an eye out for another entrance to the goblins tunnels but failed to spot anything. If there was one, they would find it from the inside. It would be a good exercise in exploring unknown buildings and they could practice searching for hidden areas. Harry was nearly bouncing in anticipation and he flew back to the 19th hole to leave the room.

Harry ran upstairs and called for everyone to join him.

"What is it Harry?" Hannah asked as they all assembled.

"I found a tunnel that leads to an underground complex under the mountain. Lictand mentioned he would add a goblin style structure under there but he never provided any plans for them. I thought that we could brush up on spells to help in searching, mapping, finding hidden rooms and areas and stuff and make a trip out of it. We may need to spend the night in there but it could be really exciting. A real adventure, but without the nasty creature or dark wizard waiting at the end."

"That sounds like fun." Ginny commented thoughtfully. "We should do it."

"Yeah." Hermione added. "It will be a great learning experience too."

"A good way to practice as well. I'm in." Daphne agreed.

"All in favour say 'Aye'" Susan said.

"Aye." Eight voices chorused.

"The 'Ayes' have it. When shall we do it?" Susan finished.

"We need to learn the spells first but then we can go anytime." Tracy said.

"I think a Friday after lunch would be best. I have stuff to do on weekday mornings so my biggest gap of free time will be Friday lunchtime until Sunday lunchtime." Harry said.

"We can work around that." Hermione replied, deep in thought. "We need to discuss what we are all going to work on at some point today. I thought that the best way to cover as much as possible would be for each of us to take a few subjects or items and learn them then teach them to everyone else. That way we're not all repeating the same things."

"That's sounds good. It's a good place to start." Daphne agreed.

"We can build a list and split it up a little later, once we have finished here." Padma added. "Meet in Harry's room in half an hour? That should give us a couple of hours before we all have to leave."

The others agreed and returned to their rooms to quickly finish up.

Harry returned to his own room and got back into his animagus notes. He was nearly finished and wanted to get into the training. He knew from his reading though that you couldn't rush anything and there were a number of risks when practising the transformation where you could get stuck halfway. It didn't sound pleasant but he understood what they book was saying, care must be taken.

Harry finished his notes with time to spare. Closing the book he lay back on his bed thinking. Last night had been interesting, sleeping with Hermione and Ginny so close by. It had felt nice. If only it hadn't been because Ginny had been so upset. Lucius Malfoy had a lot to answer for.

Harry jerked upright, he was on to something. Ginny and Luna arrived and greeted him.

"Shut up a second. I need to think." Harry cut them off abruptly.

Ginny was about to protest but Luna stopped her. She was looking at Harry intently, almost seeing the wheels turning in his head as he struggled to catch the stray though that had occurred to him.

"He wouldn't say that unless it was important." Luna reassured Ginny. "Dobby, can you conjure some chairs for us please."

The house-elf complied silently.

"Thanks Dobby." Luna thanked him quietly. "Can you let the others know to be quiet when they come in?"

"Dobby can do that then Dobby will get refreshments." Dobby vanished.

The other girls joined then a minute later, forewarned by Dobby to remain quiet.

"What's going on?" Hermione whispered to Ginny.

"Harry's on to something important." Luna answered.

Harry looked up and saw the girls had assembled. "Help me out. The diary was a Horcrux created by Voldemort. Malfoy gave it to Ginny. How did Malfoy get it?"

Hermione gasped. "I never considered that. Could he have found it?"

"It was a muggle diary. He would have no interest in it." Ginny countered.

"True." Daphne agreed. "A Horcrux may safe guard someone's life but they also have to be protected."

"So you-know-who gave it to Malfoy for safe keeping?" Tracy asked.

"Probably." Daphne agreed.

The girls moved over and joined Harry on his bed and settled down comfortably.

"But if I read your research correctly they are also a weak point. Voldemort doesn't trust anyone that much. He would never allow anyone to control anything that could be used against him." Harry queried.

"So Malfoy didn't know what he had." Susan shrugged.

"He must have known that it was important. You-know-who wouldn't just give a muggle diary to him for a joke." Padma added.

"So Voldemort gave it to Malfoy and told him to keep it as safe as possible. Malfoy would know better to ask questions and the diary would have been well protected anyway so he probably couldn't figure out what it was." Harry summarised.

"That sounds about right." Hermione agreed.

"Daphne, you are sure that he would have had to have more than one Horcrux?" Harry asked.

"Pretty sure. It's the only thing that makes sense. The only way he could have come back after the diary was destroyed." Daphne replied.

"Could he have give the other Horcrux's to some of his other inner circle members?" Harry finally found the point he had trying to find.

"The Lestrange and Black families were big supporters, perhaps they were trusted enough to receive a Horcrux to guard." Susan said.

"Where would they hide it?" Hannah asked.

"I think Malfoy had it in his own home. A Gringotts vault is another possibility." Harry replied in thought.

"We have several detection spells. All we need to do is search all the house and vaults belonging to the Black and Lestrange families." Daphne said. "How many houses and vaults are there?"

"Three vaults and about a dozen houses." Harry answered.

"That would probably only take a few days, if the Auror's come with us to help with any traps." Daphne finished.

"If Bill can come along that would be useful." Ginny added.

"Who's Bill?" Daphne asked.

"My oldest brother." Ginny replied. "He works as a Curse Breaker for Gringotts."

"Then he should come, if he can." Daphne nodded.

"I can ask Tapstone if I can hire him for a couple of days." Harry added.

"Excellent. Now we were going to plan how we are going to precede with our study plans." Daphne changed the topic with a clap of her hands.

"Harry, Ginny and I have each picked a different topic. I looked at Warding and Ward Breaking, Harry has been working on the Animagus process and Ginny has gone through our old text books and pulled out any spells that may useful and suggest how we could use them in new and unusual ways." Hermione started.

"I've been looking at medical spells and potions." Tracy spoke up. "I remembered Harry's interest in the Animagus transformation so I have been looking at the processes for reversing transfigurations and other similar afflictions."

"I appreciate that." Harry commented to her. "I was concerned after reading about what could go wrong, though it did have some suggested cures."

"You're welcome." Tracy smiled.

"I've been looking through Indian magic for anything interesting." Padma said.

"I was researching the oath we made, there are a few interesting things in there. We may be able to use it to our advantage. When we learn how to use it fully we will be able share magic, emotions, we may even be able to communicate through it but I'm not sure. Hermione has my notes." Susan contributed.

"I found out how you-know-who prevented himself from dying. I also found several spells and methods to find and destroy them." Daphne said. "Which is where all the Horcrux information came from."

"I was looking into potions that may be useful." Hannah added. "I've found a few and am compiling a list of ingredients."

Luna looked around and slumped. "I wasn't able to start researching anything. I dug out some books on runes but my father was packing for a trip to follow up on a Dribbling Blingslinger sighting in Spain. I was too busy helping him."

"That's okay. Are you home alone then?" Harry asked.

"Just for the next two weeks. I'm used to it so you don't need to worry about me."

"Even so. You have a room here; feel free to use it whenever you want." Harry assured her.

"Thanks." Luna smiled finally.

"So where do we go from here." Hannah asked.

"Well, Daphne and I need new topics to research." Susan said.

"I have three Aurors training me in duelling. I will train all of you personally." Harry stated.

"Why aren't we joining you in your lessons?" Susan asked.

"They wanted to just focus on me. They also think that it would be good for me to teach what I learn." Harry replied.

"Okay. You can practice on us and prepare for the DA next year." Susan agreed. "I would still like to join you though. There's no harm in extra practice."

"Will we be allowed to join the DA?" Daphne asked.

"Yeah. I don't have a problem. Some of the existing members might though." Harry shrugged. "Slytherins are not too popular but we can change that."

"I hope so." Tracy sighed. "With Malfoy gone we have a chance to give people a better impression, and maybe give the Slytherins a chance to choose a path other than being enslaved to you-know-who."

"I hope we can." Harry looked down. "I really don't want to have to face down my own class mates. Think about how we can do it and we'll come up with something."

Tracy and Daphne nodded.

"We need people to come up with new spells?" Hermione said. "Are you two interested in working together on that?"

Susan and Daphne exchanged a glance and a nod. "I think we will be fine. We will need to spend a lot of time here." Susan replied for them both.

"Not a problem." Harry assured them.

"I think that we should all have at least one other person assisting whatever topic we choose." Hermione began. "Someone who can share in our knowledge and back us up."

"That's a good idea." Tracy commented. "I could probably use the support with healing."

"So who are we matched with?" Ginny asked.

"I think Harry should back me up on the Warding, or maybe the other way round. We just found out that the Potter were a family of Warders."

"Didn't you know that?" Tracy asked.

"No. No one had told me. No one thinks to tell me anything like this." Harry grumped. "Did you know that I have an affinity with Warding. I can feel the wards around the property. I could feel them from half a mile away like I was standing next to them even though they are masked."

"That is impressive." Daphne gasped. "You don't do anything by half do you?"

"No, apparently not."

"Harry takes the lead with duelling and assists in Warding. Who wants to assist in duelling?" Hermione returned the conversation to the correct topic.

"I'm in." Ginny stated immediately.

"Me too." Susan added.

"Is there enough room for me as well?" Daphne asked.

"I hope so, because I want in too." Luna replied.

"Not a problem. Thanks, all of you." Harry answered. "I think we should all study it to some degree but if you four want to put some more work that would be great."

"I'm not talking about more work. I'm talking about real effort. I'm talking about being able to stand next to you while you fight." Ginny argued with him.

"But you won't be safe, you could get hurt." Harry countered.

"So, that is my choice. Don't take it away from me." Ginny came back at him.

"But..." Harry sighed. "You're right. I'm going to work you into the ground. I'm going to make you regret this decision."

"If it increases my ability to help you and survive then bring it on." Ginny glared at him.

"I'll see if you four can join in my sessions with the Aurors." Harry said.

"Tracy, you're pretty good at potions aren't you?" Hannah asked.

"Yes, why?"

"We pair up, you help me with potions and I help you with healing."

Tracy considered it then nodded. "Okay. You and me."

"Actually." Daphne started thoughtfully. "If I swap with Ginny on the spell creation, I can work with Luna on the runes and we can start enchanting items for our use."

"What do you want me to do?" Padma asked. "I'm not going to need much more time researching the Indian spells before I can turn my results over to Susan and Ginny."

"We need to do a lot of research on muggle equipment and weapons to see if there are any that could be of use to us." Hermione said. "We also need spells for exploration, finding hidden areas and such."

"I can hunt those down and I am happy to assist with the muggle research." Padma settled down, happy.

"Is there anything that we have missed?" Harry asked.

"Curse Breaking. Do you think Bill would teach us that?" Hermione turned to Ginny.

"We can ask. I think he will though. Who will he be teaching?" Ginny responded.

"Me, Harry, umm. Who else is interested?"

"I would like to." Padma spoke up.

"I'm in as well." Susan stated. "It will help when I join the Auror's."

"Is there room for one more?" Ginny asked.

"Of course." Harry replied. "Glad to have you."

"So we have a plan of attack? We're all agreed?" Hermione asked.

Harry and the other girls nodded.

"Excellent. Now planning our exploration of the tunnels, when are we going to do it?" Hermione floated the question.

"Can we be ready by this Friday?" Harry asked.

"Possibly but I can't guarantee it." Padma replied. "I'm not sure that I'll have found all the necessary spells by then. I'll need to do some hunting."

"If you need to buy any books let me know." Harry told her.

"Actually, I have a better idea." Padma responded. "Could you make some money available to Flourish and Blotts for any books that I or any of the others need."

"How about I chuck one or two thousand galleons at them and just buy as many books as possible?" Harry suggested.

"You could do that. We may find some books in Knockturn Alley as well though." Daphne replied.

"That will make my Auror escort happy. 'Let's just take a nice stroll down the one alley that holds the majority of the people who want to kill me." Harry said dryly.

"It'll be fine." Daphne replied. "We may be able to find someone to look on our behalf."

"If you can think of someone then let me know." Harry replied.

Daphne nodded.

"How are we going to plan this exploration?" Hermione asked. "Do we take it in stages or all in one hit?"

"All in one hit?" Hannah asked.

"We stay in the tunnels until we finish exploring them, camping overnight if we have to." Hermione explained.

"That could be fun." Ginny commented.

"If you-know-who does have multiple Horcrux's we will have to find all of them before he can be defeated. This could be good practice for that. We can find out what we need to learn in a safe environment." Susan agreed.

"Agreed then. All in one hit it is." Hannah stated.

"I have a question about the oath we took." Tracy spoke up. "What is it actually going to do to us?"

"I don't know exactly." Susan replied. "I don't think that it'll force you to fall in love with Harry, if that's what you're worried about."

"It was actually, but what can we expect?"

"I think that it'll encourage you to act on what you do feel and may enhance those feelings but it won't make you feel anything new."

"What can we expect?"

"From my research I think that the worst we can expect is that we lose some of our inhibitions."

"Lose our inhibitions? You had better do better than that!" Tracy glared at Harry.

"What are you glaring at me for?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, I just feel like it!"

"I think that you will need to spend a lot more time around Harry before you will notice anything. I think that we will just find that we find ourselves acting on our attraction to Harry even if he remains a girl and we will probably lose any issues we have with having to share him with each other. The oath has a minor part which was to promote harmony in the family." Susan explained.

"Will we lose any of our freewill?" Daphne asked.

"No. Just some inhibitions. It is possible that once, if, we become fully intimate with Harry we will have few, if any, problems with the presence of each other. It is possible that we may... enjoy it." Susan flushed brightly.

"So not only will we become happy snogging Harry while he is still a girl we may become happy snogging each other." Tracy summarised.

"It's a possibility. I don't know for certain." Susan replied. "Hermione and Ginny will feel any effects first due their continual closeness with Harry and that they probably have the strongest feelings towards him of all of us."

"So if you two start feeling the urge to snog each other, you'll let us know?" Tracy asked the two Gryffindor girls.

The two girls blushed at the accusation.

"Certainly." Ginny tried to rally herself. "How would you like me to inform you? A nice peck on the cheek or should I just start feeling you up?"

The other girls started laughing as Tracy glared at the younger girl before giving in. "Sorry, I took that a bit too far."

"It's okay. This is an odd situation for all of us. I actually find it reassuring that we can be assured that any feeling we develop towards Harry are coming from something real and natural."

"You're right. I'm focusing on the negatives too much. If we all stay with Harry then knowing that we will all get along with each other is reassuring. Although I'm not sure I am comfortable with the idea of kissing other girls."

"It sounds like by the time that comes up you may have changed your mind." Daphne grinned.

"Shut up Daph. Tracy shot back.

Daphne just laughed at her friend. "Come here and give me a hug cutie."

"You try kissing me and I'll slap you." Tracy told her friend but accepted the hug.

"Is there anything else?" Harry asked.

"We have Susan's notes on the oath and Daphne's notes on the Horcrux's. Are there any other notes that have been finished and are they going to be available to all of us?" Padma asked.

"I have finished my notes on the Animagus transformation. I'll put those in the library when we have finished with them. I'm not sure about the notes on the oath and Horcrux's. I think those should be kept in a safer location. If you want to read them just let me know."

"Do you have a private library hidden away?" Daphne asked. "Somewhere that very few people would know about let alone actually see?"

"If I did, do you think I would admit it. I don't by the way, but it is a good idea." Harry replied.

"A nice Slytherin answer, I couldn't tell if you were lying or not." Daphne grinned trying to get a rise out of him.

"It was the Sorting Hat's first choice for me." Harry replied.

There was a dead silence.

"You were almost sorted into Slytherin?" Daphne asked. "What happened?"

"I'd already met Malfoy and been told Slytherins are bad so I argued with the Sorting Hat until it put me in another house." Harry shrugged.

"I never knew it was even possible to argue with the Sorting Hat." Padma commented.

"True, but since when does that mean anything when Harry is involved." Susan responded.

"Gee, thanks. You make it sound like I rewrite the laws of magic or something." Harry complained.

"If the shoe fits." Susan shrugged.

The other girls just laughed.

"What time is it? Do we have time to start looking at the Animagus transformation?" Harry asked.

"We have time for a quick overview." Hermione replied checking her watch.

"Okay. If everyone else is interested?" Harry looked at the others.

"What are the advantages of becoming an Animagus?" Tracy asked. "I know that there are several dreadful ways it can go wrong."

"Your senses get a boost which helps in a number of ways, duelling is what I'm interested in. Depending of your form you could get a boost in stealth, mobility or combat ability. Some forms can be a useful disguise as well."

"Sounds good." Daphne answered. "What do we do?"

"First we need a potion to find our form then we practice the transformation, which is the time consuming part."

"If we take the potion and don't like our form..." Tracy started.

"You don't have to proceed. The only risk is in getting stuck in a partial transformation." Harry assured her.

"Do you have the potion ingredient list?" Hannah asked. "I can get the potion made. We take it and then decide who is or isn't going to proceed."

"That sounds good. Do you want any help?" Hermione agreed.

"Thanks. Tracy you want in too."

"I'm supposed to be helping you with the potions, and this one sounds interesting." Tracy replied.

Harry was copying the list on to a fresh piece of paper, when he finished he handed it over.

"Is this okay?" Harry asked.

Hannah looked it over and nodded. "This is fine."

"Shall we call it a day then?" Susan asked. "It's getting late."

"Yeah. When do we meet again?" Padma asked.

"The Auror's will be here for training at 10am for those who are interested." Harry said.

Daphne, Luna and Susan nodded.

"Are we doing anything tomorrow afternoon?" Tracy asked.

"We do need to go to Diagon Alley and Gringotts. We can look for books and ask for some of Bill's time. I can have a look through my vaults as well." Harry said.

"1pm okay to meet?"

"I think that will be okay." Harry looked around the other girls. "Anyone have any problems with that?"

There were no replies.

"Agreed then. Have a good evening and I will see you all tomorrow."

Harry, Hermione and Ginny walked with the others to the entrance hall and bid them a final farewell and watched as they stepped into the fireplace to leave.

"Daphne, wait a sec." Harry called just before the Slytherin girl stepped through the floo.

"Yeah, Harry?" She turned back to look at him.

"Can you ask your father for information about the teeth he was going to turn into weapons? I need sizes and numbers so we can find some designs. I think we'll need them sooner rather than later."

Daphne nodded. "I'll see if he has some designs as well. It might speed things up. I'll also get back to you on the Occlumency lessons as well."

"Thanks, Daphne."

She flashed a grin at him. "Not a problem Harry. See you tomorrow."

She waved and stepped through the floo.

"She's really interesting. I think I'm really beginning to like her." Ginny commented.

"I agree." Harry shook his head. "I'd never have expected that a Slytherin would have such a sense of humour."

"Neither. But she is a true Slytherin."

"Yes she is. But she could easily fit into any of the other houses." Harry paused. "I wonder what life would have been like if I had just accepted the Sorting Hat's decision to put me in Slytherin?"

"Would we still be friends?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know. I hope so but it wouldn't have been so easy. There's too much tension or outright hostility between the houses."

"Something to work on next year." Ginny rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

"Excellent. Let's go see how long dinner will be." Harry started for the door.

"Hermione, I'm very impressed." Harry said as they walked into Hermione's home to find her parents.

"Why?"

"You didn't try to get in on everything that was going on."

Hermione growled at him and swatted his arm gently then relented.

"I was tempted but I know that I have a tendency to be overbearing. I let some of the others take the lead where their talents lie." Hermione smirked. "Of course, that doesn't mean that I won't be trying to learn as much as possible."

"Save some time to teach me about runes and warding."

"Sure, I'll dig out my books on runes. If you work really hard you may be able to take the Ancient Runes OWL before school starts. It would be nice to have you in another class with me."

"If I can. It would be nice to drop Divination." Harry grinned.

"Just do your best." Hermione smiled.

"If I work really hard in the duelling training, do you think I could join your DADA class?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know? We could send an owl to Professor McGonagall and see what she thinks." Hermione replied. "You would have to pass you DADA OWL if nothing else."

"Okay. I'll try my best. May be I could pass Charms and Transfiguration as well." Ginny commented thoughtfully.

"Good luck." Harry told her as they entered the kitchen to see Daniel and Emily preparing dinner.

"Hello you three. Is it just you for dinner or are some of your friends staying over." Emily greeted her daughter and her friends.

"Hi Mum. It's just us. Sorry we weren't able to help with dinner." Hermione greeted her.

"Don't worry about it. It has been a rather hectic day for you. Oh, and you don't have to worry about doing the dishes afterwards either. Your father will be doing them for a few days."

"What did you do this time?" Hermione asked.

"This is about the golf course." Daniel replied.

"I should help then." Harry started.

"Did you propose the idea or did he?" Emily asked him.

"He raised it but it was why I started thinking in the direction that got me the World Room." Harry tried to explain.

"That is not the issue. He should not have asked you for that." Emily countered. "However well it may have turned out. It is only because turned out so well that he got off so lightly."

Emily returned her attention to the vegetables she was cutting, and then paused and pointed her knife at Harry to emphasise her words. "Don't you even think about trying to help him or asking one of your house-elves to help him."

"Yes Ma'am." Harry very nearly saluted.

"Good boy." Emily returned to her chopping.

"So that's where she gets it from." Harry murmured to himself.

"Who gets what from?" Ginny asked, having managed to overhear Harry.

"Umm." Harry wasn't sure how to answer that. "It's just that Hermione has occasionally displayed a directness that can be disconcerting. Now I know where she gets it from."

"Who has she been threatening?" Emily asked with a sigh.

"Mum." Hermione complained.

"Well, she threatens me and Ron regularly regarding or school work, but we deserve that." Harry replied diplomatically.

Emily just kept looking at him in silence.

Harry shrugged, trying not to let the stare affect him. "What? It's true."

"I'm sure it is but it's what you aren't telling me that I want to know. And you will tell me, it's just a matter of when. The sooner you tell me, the less trouble you will be in."

"Oh, well, in that case. There was an incident at the end of first year where Hermione just paralysed Neville while Ron and I were trying to persuade him to move out of the way. And she decked Malfoy in third year without warning, although come to think of it I seem to remember now that she had him cowering in fear first. I thought he was going to wet himself." Harry grinned in recollection.

"Well. I am most disappointed in you Hermione. I hoped you apologised to Neville." Emily scolded.

"Yes mum. Straight away. It was a proper and honest apology." Hermione said.

"Good now come here and let me give you a hug for smacking that snotty little brat."

Hermione complied.

"Well, are there any other good deed's that need rewarding?" Emily asked, releasing her daughter.

"Probably." Hermione replied. "Harry does a good deed every year, usually at great personal risk."

"That sounds like it deserves a hug, come here Harry." Emily reached out to him.

Harry didn't move until Hermione push him forward into her mother's arms.

Emily quickly enfolded Harry into a firm hug. "I get the feeling that he has saved your life. She looked at Hermione over Harry's shoulder."

"Once or twice." Hermione replied.

Emily's hug firmed. "Thank you for looking out for my daughter." She whispered into his ear.

Harry stood their frozen by the motherly attention. Slowly he relaxed into the hug and tentatively reached his arms around her. Emily didn't release him until after he was finally hugging her back firmly.

"I'm not sure I deserve that. So much of the danger she has been in has been because of me." Harry looked at his feet.

"I think you over estimate your level of responsibility." Emily countered. "You didn't create or cause any of these events to occur. You simply end up getting involved. Hermione would be there regardless. It's the down side of raising a daughter who so strongly believes in doing what's right."

"Still..." Harry started.

"Shut up Harry." Emily smiled at him fondly.

"But..." Harry kept trying.

"Shut up Harry." Emily was joined by both Hermione and Ginny this time.

Hermione and Ginny grabbed Harry from either side and hugged him.

Harry stayed shut up this time.

"Good boy." Ginny patted him on the head.

Harry glared at her while the others laughed.

Hermione pulled them both out of the room. "Come on, let's set the table." She said between chuckles.

Dinner was a buoyant affair as they discussed their favourite areas of the World Room. Everyone had a favourite area but they were all highly enthused to explore the room further.

After dinner the three Gryffindors retired to Harry's room and while Ginny kept working through their old textbooks, Hermione began teaching Harry Ancient Runes. Harry proved to be a surprisingly good student, picking up the subject with surprising ease.

"Harry, have you been holding back on me." Hermione asked.

"I don't think so. I just seem to be able to pick this up easily." Harry looked as surprised as the others.

"Do you think this has to do with your affinity to Warding?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know." Harry shrugged. "I just seem to be able to focus better. I found the same thing while I was working on the Animagus notes."

"Do you think that what happened to you has something to do with it?" Hermione asked.

"Possibly. I can't think of anything else that may have provoked such a change in me."

"It will be interesting to see what other effects this has had on you." Hermione commented.

Harry rolled his eyes. "This among so many other things."

"That's just one of many reasons why we love you so much." Ginny grinned.

"Well, I'm glad to see it's had some sort of positive effect." Harry collapsed back on the bed.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

Sorry about the delays in releasing this chapter, work has been chaotic. As a special treat, this chapter had to be split in two, and both parts are ready for posting. So, grab your drink and popcorn, sit a safe and comfortable distance from the screen and enjoy part 1 of this 2 part special.

As always, thanks to everyone who has reviewed, set alerts or added this story to their favourites list.

**Chapter 12**

This morning started the beginning of Harry's new training regime. He dragged himself from his bed and changed into a running outfit and slid his new martial arts gi and the money he had set aside into a bag along with his wand. Getting some water and some fruit to snack on he headed out the door.

The crisp morning air woke him as he jogged to the school for his first martial arts lesson.

Harry didn't have to wait long. A car pulled and John Adams got out carrying a few items.

"Good morning, Miss Potter." He called. "You preferred Harri didn't you?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. Good morning Mr Adams. Thank you for doing this."

"Call me John, except during lessons when you're to call me 'Sensei'."

"Yes Sensei."

John smiled. "Did you get your Gi?"

"Yes, I don't know how to put it on though."

"They are a bit tricky if you don't know how." John chuckled. "That's the first lesson."

"Thank you."

Harry pulled out the Gi from his bag, along with the envelope of money.

"Here's your fee." Harry handed the envelope over.

Checking it John's eyebrows shot to his hairline.

"I didn't expect you to pay everything up front."

"I had the money, so it's not a problem."

"Well, thank you."

"You're welcome."

John instructed Harry on how to put the Gi on properly, chuckling as Harry fumbled with the ties.

"Now we have that sorted, show me how much you have been practicing your first kata."

Harry nodded and took up the stance he had been shown. He flowed through the movements, feeling the familiar relaxation come over him. He was careful, however, not to connect with his body's energy. Something he had been practicing after scaring Ginny and Hermione.

"Very good, you pick thing up quickly." John complemented.

"I've been told that."

"You didn't create any wind this time?"

"I scared a couple of friends the other day so I practiced, I suppose, turning it on or off."

"Very good. That's actually the first step. You have to be in control of your abilities. The next step is calling it up at will. We'll work on that later, always start with the basics. They are the foundations of everything. Most students ignore the basics in favour of more advanced techniques but it's the basic's that are the key to everything."

Harry nodded. "I understand."

"Good. Now, I'll be teaching hand-to-hand as well as both sword and staff. We will spend three days on hand-to-hand and a day each on sword and staff."

"Can I have an extra day on sword, if possible?" Harry asked.

"Maybe later on. The sword and staff use the hand-to hand as a basis so it's better to spend more time more time on hand-to-hand now."

"Okay."

"Good. Now, you have the first kata down, let's move on. We'll start the next kata later, and try to keep the wind to a minimum; we will work on that later. First you need to learn how to move and fall without hurting yourself."

John began teaching Harry several individual moves and later, kata's. Harry watched intently and mimicked the moves exactly, to his Sensei's approval, though not with picking up a few bruises.

"You're taking to this like a duck to water." John commented a while later. "It's like you were born to study martial arts."

"Knowing my luck I probably was." Harry murmured dryly.

"Let's work on your special ability. I'm impressed that you've managed to avoid using it so far. Now, let's see if you can use it when you want. We'll start with you using it while practicing you kata, the same way you did last week."

Harry nodded and took the ready stance. Beginning the kata he tapped into the energy he had felt. He tried to keep his eyes open so that he could see the effect, he wasn't disappointed. The winds he stirred up grew with each repetition of the kata until he could see his Sensei struggling to keep his footing.

Stopping, the winds died rapidly.

"Well, I can see why you scared your friends. That was impressive. Was that as strong as you can make it?"

"I don't think so. I was getting worried I might hurt you so I stopped. I've gotten a lot more aware of it and it's effects ."

"That's very good. We're going to have to find out just how far you can go."

"I think I know somewhere I can find out. I'd better go alone though, I won't be able to really let go if there's some else around."

"Alright, in that case let's work on two things then. You need to be able to focus your ability. As powerful as the wind you create is, it's too indiscriminate; you need to be able focus all of onto a single target. That ability will also allow you to cut loose a lot more without endangering your friends, or anyone else around you."

"I'd appreciate that." Harry commented dryly.

John flashed a grin at him. "The other is speed. It takes you a while to build up the power. To make it effective you need to be able to call it up much faster."

Harry nodded. "So where do we start?"

"I want you to imagine a target on the ground in front of you. About ten feet in front of you. When you have the visual I want you to punch out, to attempt to strike it using your ability."

"Yes Sensei." Harry took his stance.

He focused on visualising an opponent in front of him. Tapping into his energy he punched out. Feeling the energy flow and the winds stir he was encouraged.

"Wait until everything subsides before you try again. Each blow needs to be fresh or you will just be doing what you were doing with your kata's."

"Yes Sensei."

Harry repeated the blow, waiting for everything to subside between each attempt. Each blow caused a stronger wind to accompany it and was soon kicking up puffs of dust to show the impacts.

"That's enough. We are out of time. You have made astounding progress. I'll see you tomorrow. Always bring your training sword and staff, even if we won't be using it that day. That reminds me. I have a carry bag for you in the car to put them in."

"Yes Sensei. Thank you Sensei."

As John packed up Harry pulled off the Gi and folded it back into his bag. Sliding the practice weapons into the offered bag he bid his instructor farewell and slung his bags over his shoulders and began running home, the long way.

When he finally got home he bounced through the house to the extension and up to his room.

As he walked in he saw both Hermione and Ginny sprawled on his bed working.

"Don't either of you have your own room?" Harry asked putting his bags down.

"Yes but its nicer studying here." Ginny replied.

"I need to take a shower." Harry hunted for some clean clothes.

"So? Take a shower." Ginny replied absently. "You don't need us to scrub your back do you? Or were you inviting us to join you."

"No, I don't need help to scrub my back." Harry shot back. "But if you want to join me?"

He disappeared into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him, leaving Ginny gaping.

Hermione giggled. "He got you on that one."

"Yeah. Still, it's a little tempting to take him up on his offer." Ginny mused.

"You teaser." Hermione grinned.

"Yup." Ginny grinned back. "It's nice to see him relaxing though."

"Yes, it's a good start but he still needs more. I've not finished the potion for my scar yet but in a couple more days my scar will have mostly faded. I say we break out the bikinis; we will have to work our way up to the really tiny ones though. The sunscreen lotion, the after sun lotion and the moisturiser will be three different opportunities to get our hand on him intimately. And he can get used to touching us as well."

Ginny took a deep breath. "It may be uncomfortable."

"It probably will be at first. It will be worse for Harry though. I don't think he knows much about how touching can be something to look forward to, to enjoy. We can start him off doing our backs for everyone's comfort."

"You're right. Okay let do it. When?"

"If Thursday is nice and sunny, we make our move then."

Ginny nodded.

The conversation was cut off by Harry emerging from the bathroom with damp hair and in clean clothes.

"I feel better for that. Now, time for breakfast." Harry left.

"Shall we follow?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I need a drink." Ginny put her pen down and stood.

Ginny and Hermione joined Harry in the kitchen as he was pouring milk on his cereal. They poured themselves a drink each and sat down next to Harry.

"How was your martial arts lesson?" Hermione asked.

"Good." Harry mumbled through his breakfast. He swallowed before continuing, to Hermione relief. "I have a couple of things I need to try in the World Room."

"Can we watch?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know. I need to see just how strong I can get that wind. I don't want anyone around in case they get hurt."

"Okay, we'll watch from a distance." Ginny shrugged.

Harry nodded, returning to his breakfast.

Emily entered the room. "I thought I heard you come in, Harry. Did you have a good time?"

Harry just nodded, his mouth once again full of cereal.

"I'm glad to hear it. What do you three have planned today?"

"Duelling practice in about an hour and a trip to Diagon Alley after lunch." Hermione replied.

"How many friends will be joining us for lunch?"

"Just Luna, Susan and Daphne. They are the only ones who wanted to join in on the duelling training with Aurors."

"Will any of the Auror's join us?"

Hermione paused in surprise. "I don't know. Tonks might. She's really the only one who we're really social with. Would you like me to make the offer?"

"Yes, please. If they are going to take the time to teach you, the least we can do is offer them lunch."

"Okay."

"I feel like I should contribute to the grocery bill." Harry commented.

"Don't worry about it. You can take over some of the meals when you get your kitchen sorted."

"Agreed." Harry nodded.

"What do you need to do at Diagon Alley?" Emily asked.

"Books and Gringotts." Hermione replied. "Are there any good bookshops in that area?"

"In muggle London? I think so. One or two anyway. I think they are within a few blocks of Charing Cross road."

"We can find out while these two let themselves be used for target practice." Hermione grinned at her two house mates.

"You're not joining them?" Emily asked as a chime rang to indicate someone was at the front gate.

She started for the door.

"I'm not that good, I don't have the reflexes. Harry will train the rest of us so I'll pick up things from him." Hermione replied quickly as her mother left the room.

Emily returned a minute later. "Hermione, there's someone to see you. He says he's Albus Dumbledore."

"Really old guy? Long white beard? Ridiculous dress sense?" Harry asked.

"Pretty well spot on."

"That's him." Harry turned back to his breakfast.

"You're not going to go?" Hermione asked.

"He asked for you." Harry shrugged.

"He's going to be asking about you."

"So we make it easy for him? That's not according to the plan." Harry grinned at her.

"Shut up Harry. You're coming."

"I'm still eating."

"So bring it with you."

"He's still waiting, you do realise that don't you." Emily asked, amused at the light verbal sparring between the two Gryffindor class mates.

"Let him." Harry and Hermione shot back in unison. That looked at each other in surprise as Emily and Ginny laughed at them.

"Come on you two. We'll put on a group front." Ginny pulled at them both.

Groaning Harry rose bringing his bowl with him. "Alright, let's get this over with."

The three Gryffindors walked out to the front door to the gate where Albus Dumbledore was waiting on the footpath.

"Good morning Professor Dumbledore. How are you today? Are you having a nice holiday?" Hermione asked.

"Harry? What are you doing here? Why aren't you at Privet drive?"

"Was that a 'no' then?" Hermione commented to no one. "Please, feel free to ignore me."

Ginny suppressed a grin as she touched Hermione's arm gently in response to her comments.

"Eating breakfast." Harry replied before he took another mouthful.

"Harry, you just had the perfect opportunity to make a joke and you blew it." Ginny commented.

"I'm eating." Harry replied through his food.

"Enough." Dumbledore's voice cut through their conversation sharply. "Harry, you must return before the wards collapse."

"No." Harry took another mouthful.

"Harry, you must stay safe. Stop acting like a child."

"I'm not. I'm acting like an adult and choosing my own path."

"At what expense? You are placing your friends in danger, not to mention leaving your aunt and uncle unprotected."

"And what about what any of us actually want?" Harry asked. "Do our personal preferences, desires and overall happiness have any value to you?"

"Of course they do, but you have to weigh them against your personal safety."

"So, is that how you justify my life of utter misery while I was growing up? Is it important, or is it okay because I'm still alive? Do you even care that my parents would probably have killed both you and my aunt and uncle for how they treated me?"

"If it had been that bad the wards would have failed. Stop exaggerating." Dumbledore scolded.

"Am I? Would it make a difference if you knew that I own that house? Would the fact that it was my house ensure that the magic would never recognise the simple fact that I never considered that place home?"

The three Gryffindors were surprised to see their Headmaster speechless.

"Perhaps you knew and counted on it and are now trying to figure out how I found out." Harry waited for an answer.

"Are you so cold that you now no longer care about the safety of your only living family?"

"Ouch. Nice guilt trip. I've never really cared about them that much, but it's been taken care of. They have nothing to worry about." Harry's expression turned colder.

"I doubt that you could ever ensure their safety as well as those blood wards."

"I disagree. Is there anything else you would like to insult me about?"

"Why did neither you nor Miss Granger reply to my letters?"

"I failed to see why my school's Headmaster needed to know where I was staying outside of the school term." Harry turned to Hermione. "You never told me that you gotten letters from him."

"It wasn't that big a deal. 'Where is Harry?', 'Has he been in touch with you?'. It had a compulsion charm on it as well." Hermione turned to Dumbledore. "Why are you trying to control me like that? First in the hospital wing, then the letter, why are you so insistent that I don't act in Harry's best interest? You just want me to obey you and that's a little too close to how you-know-how acts for my liking."

Dumbledore turned back to Harry. "Why are you spending so much money? The DMLE and the Warding Fund? That is not your responsibility."

"Maybe not but I could do something to help those who can't help themselves and ensure that Voldemort's supporters can't benefit from it. Are you upset because you wanted me to give you the money? Did you want the credit for yourself? What do you want from me? Why didn't you answer Hermione's question?"

"I just want you to stay safe." Dumbledore insisted.

"I am. I'm also preparing for what is coming."

"That is not your responsibility. You need to heal from the loss of your Godfather. You don't have to worry about Voldemort until after you graduate."

"Yeah, right. Like he's really going to wait until I graduate to come after me. If he sees me as a threat then he will try to kill me before I have the chance to become a bigger threat."

"That is why you must stay safe."

"So you will put everything into keeping me safe. What about everyone else? How many innocent people will suffer while they wait for you to give me permission to take out Voldemort?"

"You shouldn't think about sure things. It is not your responsibility."

"No. It's yours. So why aren't you doing it? Why do I have to do it? Why are you so focused on me that everyone else suffers?"

"Because without you there will be no one who can beat Voldemort. He will take over and the world will suffer."

"Yeah? Really? I think that you should let me worry about that and focus on protecting those who can't protect themselves."

"The situation is more complicated that you realise. You are not ready for this."

"And if you have your way, I probably never will be. The best thing you can do right now is tell me everything you know about Voldemort. Everything, not just the little bits and pieces you think I'm ready for." Harry turned and started back to the house. "You know where to find me when you're ready."

Dumbledore stood silently.

"I am most disappointed in you Professor." Hermione turned and followed Harry.

"You've really screwed things up with them, Professor." Ginny commented.

"I have. You should go home, Miss Weasley. Your mother is very worried about you."

"You can tell her I'm safe and well and not coming home. An apology would be nice though." Ginny left as well leaving Dumbledore standing on the sidewalk.

He contemplated the gate, his hand on his wand about to draw it as he considered what to do next. He hadn't been able to reach any of his students via Legilimency. The wards he could feel shouldn't be able to block him. He was missing something. Now was not the time to act rashly. Dumbledore turned and walked away checking his surroundings so he could Disapparate.

Harry sat back down in the kitchen. "Stubborn, arrogant pain in the arse."

Emily looked over. "So your meeting went that well?"

"I don't know. He never actually answered any of my questions."

"How helpful of him." Emily commented dryly.

"That's what I thought." Harry matched her dryness.

"What are you going to do next?"

"Wait for him to give me some answers." Harry shrugged. "I have my training and some other plans, but he knows a lot. He probably has information that I need. The problem is that he thinks I'm not ready."

"Are you ready?"

"Do I have a choice?" Harry shrugged again. "I have a task to do; hiding important information will only make it harder. I dread the thought that I'll think I'm ready and get killed because Dumbledore didn't tell me that what I was going to try won't work."

"Which is why you need to be careful." Emily looked concerned. "When you finally confront him you need a lot of different approaches, in case one doesn't work, you have others you can try."

"That's what I'm trying to do." Harry sighed. "I'm not looking forward to it."

"Nor should you be." Hermione made her presence in the doorway known.

She and Ginny came in and sat down at the table next to Harry.

"There is no way that any decent human being would enjoy what you have to do." Hermione continued. "All you can do is prepare to the best of your ability and hope."

"You won't be alone. We have your back. All of us do. If something goes wrong then just trust us to get you and the rest of us out safely." Ginny added.

"I don't want you in any danger." Harry spun in his seat to look at her.

"Sorry Harry. This is one argument you're going to lose, so don't even bother." Ginny just glared back at him.

"Alright." Harry subsided.

"Come on Harry, we need to change before of duelling training." Ginny pulled him out of his seat. "The others will probably arrive soon."

"Okay, let's go." Harry followed her out.

They were walking down the lower corridor of the extension when they noticed the door to the potions lab was ajar. Poking their heads into the room they saw Hannah and Tracy working on various ingredients.

"Hey you two, I didn't expect you here so early?" Harry called out.

"Oh, morning. Dad said that it would be okay to use his stocks as long as we replaced them." Hannah replied absently as she chopped something Harry couldn't identify.

"Alright then." Harry shrugged. "Have fun."

Tracy nodded cheerfully.

Hannah and Tracy were not the only unexpected visitors. They saw Padma in her room unpacking a truck.

"Hello." Harry and Ginny looked in on her.

"Hello Harry, Ginny." Padma paused, holding a shirt she was hanging up.

"Taking me up on my offer?" Harry asked.

"Yes." Padma grinned. "I can't wait to see what Parv's reaction is when she can't find them."

"It should be interesting to say the least." Ginny grinned back.

"Don't you have a training session soon?"

"Yes, we were just going to change."

"Together?"

"Yes, actually. It's nice having someone to help with those hard to reach buttons." Ginny smirked.

Padma's jaw dropped in shock at Ginny's answer. "Really? I was just teasing."

"I know. I just thought I'd rile you up a bit." Ginny giggled.

Padma glared at her for a moment then related. "Okay, I deserved that. I shall remain here and finish my unpacking while you two go and get yourselves beaten up by Auror's."

"Isn't it nice that she is so concerned for our wellbeing." Ginny commented to Harry as they the room with a wave to Padma.

"Yes, her concern for us is so overwhelming, I think I felt a tear trickle down my cheek."Harry replied.

"I heard that." Padma shouted after them.

Harry and Ginny laughed as they returned to their own rooms.

Ginny finished changing first and went looking for Harry. She found him still in his room half dressed and struggling with a bra.

"Having fun there Harry?" Ginny asked innocently.

Harry jumped and spun to see who was there then spun back and grabbed his t-shirt to cover himself.

"You don't need to worry, Harry. It's not like you've got anything I don't." Ginny smiled.

"Really?" Harry's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "So you wouldn't mind if I was to walk into your room without knocking while you were changing."

"Not just yet, but give it time and you may get lucky." Ginny didn't lose her smile. "Do you need some help?"

"Please. Hermione said she'd show me an easier way but I just have to struggle through. At least I don't get it twisted all to hell anymore; it just takes me an age to get it latched."

"Try putting it on backwards." Ginny suggested.

"Huh?"

"Take you arms out of the straps spin it around backwards and hook it up. Then turn it back, put your arms through the straps and get it sitting comfortably." Ginny shrugged. "That's how I do it."

Harry looked at her a moment in though then turned his back and attempted her suggestion. Seconds later the bra was on and he was pushing it around to get it comfortable.

Ginny stepped forward and helped him get the straps right.

"Thanks Ginny." Harry gave her a very grateful smile as he reached for his discarded t-shirt.

"Anytime. Nice rack by the way." Ginny teased.

"Thanks." Harry shot back dryly. "Now both you and Hermione have seen them, when are either of you going to return the favour?"

"Patience Harry. Besides, you are still a guy at heart and I don't just show myself to any guy."

"Okay." Harry turned and headed for the door.

"Just like that?"

"You gave me a real answer. I don't have an issue with it, and you're right. I am still a guy at heart. That's what's made using the bathroom, shower and even looking in the mirror so uncomfortable." Harry walked out.

Ginny paused open mouthed at easy Harry's acceptance of her statement. Then she smiled. This was why she was still in love with him; why he was worth all the hassle.

"Hey, wait up." Ginny called out as she ran to catch up.

The two Gryffindors didn't have long to wait before everyone began arriving for the lesson. Luna, Susan and Daphne arrived early to ensure that they didn't miss the start of the lesson, they were all dressed in their new sportswear that they had gotten a on their shopping trip two days early.

"And that's everyone." Harry commented after he greeted them.

"Huh?" Susan showed her confusion.

"I assume that means everyone else is here too." Daphne asked.

Harry nodded. "Hannah and Tracy are in the Lab working on the Animagus potion and Padma is upstairs hiding her new clothes."

"Hiding her clothes? Oh, from her sister." Daphne shook her head. "I can't believe she is actually going through with that."

"Don't you have a sister?" Ginny asked.

"Astoria, she's a few years younger than me."

"So she's probably not stealing your clothes yet."

"She tries, but she's not there yet." Daphne paused. "I suppose I understand. If Tori stole some of my new clothes I would be pretty annoyed at her. May be I should have a few things here, just in case."

"In case of what?" Harry asked.

"In case I need a change, in case we go swimming or something."

"That's a good idea." Susan agreed. "I'll bring a few things next time I come. I was planning on going home to change but it would be much easier to just have a few things here."

"It's not like we didn't get enough." Daphne agreed.

The floo flared signalling the arrival of the three Auror's.

"You're late." Harry called.

"Dumbledore called us for a bird club meeting. You figured prominently, I might add." Kingsley replied.

"No surprises there."

"Watcher Harry. How y'doing?" Tonks greeted her semi-cousin.

"Hey Tonks. I'm good. Yourself?"

"I'm good. You ready to get pummelled?"

"No, but I am ready to do some pummelling. Does that count?" Harry asked innocently.

"Well, you don't lack enthusiasm." Kinsley grinned. "Let's see how long it lasts. Let's go Harry."

"Do you mind if Ginny, Susan, Daphne and Luna join us? They're interested in this level of training."

Kingsley looked them over then exchanged glances with the other Aurors, who shrugged and nodded back.

"Okay. We'll give them a shot. If they survive today they can join us on Wednesday."

"I'm glad to see that you have such faith in our abilities." Daphne commented dryly from the sidelines.

"I have no faith in your abilities." Kingsley shot back. "But if you show sufficient potential and dedication then we might be able to change that."

"Well then, let's get this started." Harry rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Where do you want to do this? Duelling room, gymnasium, World Room?"

"The World Room I think." Kingsley replied after a moment's thought. "It'll give us more room to work with."

Harry nodded and led the way out of the entrance hall. Entering the World Room and heading outside he glanced at Kingsley to see which way he wanted to go. The dark skinned Auror gestured down the nearest fairway. Harry nodded and led the group about halfway down the neatly trimmed grass.

"Okay, this'll do just fine." Kingsley looked around. "Right, first we need to assess where you are so we know what we need to teach you. Harry, you and me first up."

Harry nodded and followed Kingsley a short distance away and took up a ready stance.

Kingsley took his own stance and waited a moment to see what Harry would do. Seeing that Harry wasn't going to take the initiative he launched a barrage of low level curses. Harry raised a shield and felt it shudder under the impact of the spells. Harry raised his wand to return fire and found himself having to throw himself out of the way as Kingsley sent more spells his way.

'Idiot!' Harry cursed himself mentally. 'This isn't a school event. Focus!' Harry returned to his feet and rebalanced himself.

He dodged the next set of spells and managed to shoot back a couple of stunners before he had to dodge again. His two spells were easily avoided by Kingsley who never let up the barrage.

They continued this way for a minute with Kingsley totally in charge of the fight and Harry struggling to stay in the fight.

'What am I missing' Harry thought to himself as he dodged yet another group of spells, barely managing to cast on in return. 'Wait, he's still casting while he's dodging. Idiot. I'm also moving far more than he is to dodge. I need to tighten up my movements.'

Harry took a deep breath and moved only slightly to dodge the next spell, casting his return spell at the same time. The sudden change in tactics caused Kingsley to raise an eyebrow but adjusted his tactics accordingly. The fight became more even as they rapidly traded spells.

Kingsley was impressed by Harry's improvement and switched to non-verbal spells to increase his spell casting rate. Harry faltered slightly as the rate of incoming spells increased but he rallied, adjusted for the change and continued fighting trying to ignore his fatiguing muscles. He couldn't last much longer.

He didn't. A single slip put him in one place for too long and his wand was not in a position to cast a shield and a stunner laid him flat on his back.

He blinked as he was woken by Tonks. Trying to get up, his tired limbs failed him and he fell back.

"Ow." Harry looked up at the fake sky. "I think I'll just lie here for a minute. How'd I do?"

"Much better than I expected. "Kingsley moved into Harry's eyesight. "You need to work on your stamina and non-verbal casting. You also need a larger range of spells at your disposal. Apart from that you did very well. Much better than I expected. Looks like there is a reason you can fight you-know-who and survive."

Kingsley turned to the other girls. "You've seen what is expected from you; now let's see if you can do it. Tonks, Jones, take two each and put them through their paces."

The girls tried their best but try as they might they were not able to repeat Harry's performance. Harry managed a sitting position and was able to watch as the girls went each went one-on-one with an Auror and were beaten resoundingly.

Ginny, Luna and Susan performed reasonably well. Daphne was disappointed to find she was at the bottom of the list.

"You all did better than I expected." Kingsley addressed the five of them once the testing had been completed. "You all need to work on the same essentials but that is to be expected. Accuracy, non-verbal casting, stamina and your range of spells. Once these are better we can move on to the more advanced areas of Duelling. Trickery, duelling multiple people, etc..."

Harry was finally able to stand. "Sounds good. Do you think Moody would have some good suggestions on the trickery part?"

Kingsley grinned. "He would but you aren't up to that level yet. Although if you progress as fast as you did today it won't take long. You picked up a huge amount in minutes during our duel. It is a good start but it won't help you much against Death Eaters." Kingsley addressed the entire group. "All of you need to pay attention to this. Fighting Death Eater's is dangerous. They don't play by any normal rules. They'll hit you from behind and use every dirty trick in existence. You need to be careful and watch each other's backs."

"Constant Vigilance." Harry stated.

"Exactly." Kingsley nodded.

"Does this mean we need to start practicing extreme paranoia?" Ginny asked.

Tonks started coughing to hide her laughter causing Kingsley to glare at her.

"You don't need to go that far but you'll definitely need to take precautions. There are a variety of detection spells that you should be aware of that cover a range of potential threats. I'll recommend a book for you later." Kingsley's expression turned evil. "Now that you've all had a rest, it's time to start working on you deficiencies, starting with stamina. Now get moving before I start hexing you."

With groan the five students started running with the Auror's behind them chatting about which spell they should use to hex them with.

Harry and the girls were run into the ground, literally. They had to be levitated back to the Club House. Once the Auror's had them assembled they showed them how to stretch to protect their aching muscles.

"Okay, now that that is finished take five minutes to get your breath back and then we will start on non-verbal casting. I didn't expect any of you to know it already, given that it is a sixth year topic in DADA."

"Nice to know that we will get a head start on the year." Daphne commented.

"I'm glad to be of assistance then." Kingsley replied. "Now let's begin. Non-verbal casting is a huge advantage for two major reasons. First, your opponent doesn't know what spell you cast and secondly, as you saw from my duel with Harry, you're able to cast spells faster. To learn how to do this you need to..."

It was difficult going but they all made progress before they were released for lunch. Harry more than others but they had all had at least some small success.

It was Hermione who got them released when she came and told them that lunch was ready and that they were all expected outside to eat it.

"Come on everyone." She called from the balcony of the Club House. "Lunch is ready. We're having a picnic in the backyard and everyone is invited. That means you either come on your own or my mother will drag you."

"We'd better do as she says. If Hermione gets as much of her personality from her mother as I think then we'd better get moving." Harry grinned tiredly at the others.

"You are just trying to get out of the lessons." Kingsley grinned back. "But I'll let you. You've all made good progress. Now let's go eat."

"Dressed like this?" Daphne asked incredulously. "I need to shower a change. I can't join you for lunch dressed like this and covered in sweat."

"Yes you can." Hermione called down from the balcony. "Come on already." She disappeared.

"Come on Daphne." Harry gently took her elbow and guided her towards the Club House. "We'll wash our hands and eat lunch. You can shower and change before we head out to Diagon Alley."

Daphne grumbled but started walking.

"Diagon Alley?" Tonks asked. "Do you need an escort?"

"Probably not, but if you want to come to make sure I would appreciate it." Harry replied.

"Not a problem. Dumbledore will probably want to set up a schedule for us to watch this place until he can convince you to go back to you aunt and uncles."

"Great, there goes the neighbourhood." Harry grumbled.

"Are you going out much?" Kingsley asked.

"Not really. I have a morning training class at the local school. Apart from that I don't need to go anywhere that much."

"Madam Bones has effectively assigned the three of us as your protection detail. If you need an escort anywhere just call us and we will be there." Kingsley paused. "If you promise to ensure that at least one of us will be with you when ever you leave the property then, if all three of us volunteer to cover you, we can protect your privacy from Dumbledore."

Harry paused, thinking about the Senior Auror's offer. He was unhappy that he had to give up some privacy but it would keep him out of Dumbledore's grasp.

"Yeah, okay. I leave each weekday morning at about quarter to six. Which lucky individual gets to follow me?"

"Tonks." Kingsley replied promptly.

"Hey! How'd I draw the short straw?" Tonks spun to face her superior indignantly.

"You got out of bed this morning. You're the junior Auror; you have the short straw glued to your forehead until I say otherwise." Kingsley grinned at her.

Tonks glared at him them turned on her heel. She didn't quite stomp off but it was close.

Hestia was chuckling quietly. "I am so glad that I'm not longer the junior member of the team."

"I remember being quite relieved, once I'd done my stint." Kingsley grinned back.

"I was interested in becoming an Auror, but now I think I'll pass." Harry grinned.

"With your talent, you could easily become the Head Auror or Head DMLE." Kingsley replied then he grinned. "And if you off you-know-who then there isn't an Auror on the planet who'd want to risk pissing you off."

Harry grinned briefly then turned a disappointed look at Kingsley. "You know, I would have thought that at least you would call him by name."

"Some habits are harder to break than others." Kingsley looked down as if he had been scolded.

"If you can't call him Voldemort then call him Tom. He really hates that." Harry grinned.

"Unlike you I think most people would want to avoid annoying a powerful and psychotic Dark Lord." Hestia replied.

"Fair enough." Harry shrugged.

They quickly washed up in the bathroom before heading outside where Hermione and her mother had set out a large blanket on which they had placed several dishes of food. Padma, Hannah and Tracy were already outside with Emily and the two house elves could be seen carrying more dishes.

"This looks wonderful." Ginny broke the silence of the five exhausted teens as they stared at the feast in front of them.

The others were quick to add their own complements as Emily waved them to sit on the rug. Lunch was a cheerful affair as they all chatted happily. Harry had even managed to convince Dobby and Winky to eat with them, although it did require a mix of cajolery and blunt ordering. There was a bit of humour as Tracy pretended to keep her distance from Daphne saying she smelt and didn't want to get all her sweat all over herself. Daphne responded by grabbing her friend in a huge hug and trying to sit close enough that they were touching for the rest of lunch. Tracy spent the rest of lunch edging away from Daphne while Daphne kept closing the gap. They didn't quite manage to make a full circle around the rug they were all sharing but they got close, much to everyone's amusement.

Harry started the post lunch exodus. "Come on everyone. As fun as it is to watch Daphne and Tracy, we need to get to Diagon Alley."

The others agreed and left to get ready, agreeing to meet back in the Entrance Hall in half an hour. Harry watched as all the girls except Hermione, Ginny and Padma stepped through the floo, followed by the trio of Auror's. Padma had brought a couple of robes with her just in case when she had brought her muggle clothing over.

Harry and Ginny headed for their bathrooms to shower and change. Having dressed, Harry pulled on his school robe over his clothes. He hadn't worn them since Draco had attacked him. He pulled them closed, or attempted to. There was a gap across his now ample chest of a few inches. Grimacing he let them hang open to try and hide it. He headed for the entrance hall to wait for the others. Hermione and Padma were already there, chatting happily. They looked up as he walked in.

"Honestly Harry, you really need to learn to do your hair properly." Hermione scolded as she stood and pulled her wand to attack his still damp hair.

Padma grinned at the two Gryffindors and reached into her handbag to pull out a brush then stood and joined Hermione in sorting out Harry's hair.

Ginny arrived just as they were finishing. "It looks good. You two did good work. Could you do my hair some time?"

Hermione looked at her younger friend. "Sure. I think you'd good with an afro."

Harry chuckled as Padma and Ginny shared a confused look.

"What's an 'afro'?" Ginny asked.

Hermione just smiled sweetly. "I'll tell you another time."

She turned back to Harry. "You really need to learn to do your hair properly yourself."

"Okay." He replied. "When do you have time to teach me?"

"Is tomorrow too soon? We can fit it in between Ancient Runes and sharing makeup tips."

"The Ancient Runes sounds good but if afraid that I'm a little short on makeup tips to share. Perhaps our two giggling friends could offer some good advice." Harry glared at Ginny and Padma who were trying to stifle their laughter.

"Don't worry. One thing about living with my twin sister is that you pick up a lot of that sort of information." Padma said after she managed to get her giggling under control. "We could make it a group session and have everyone over. Most of what we are doing is focused on the war. It would be nice to just be a bunch of girls for a bit."

"I like it." Ginny grinned cheerfully. "We need to do things like that to keep our focused balanced."

"That's all well and good but appearances aside, I'm not a girl." Harry looked at the other three.

"Maybe not in your mind and heart but you are in body. You may as well make the most of it. Besides, you look really good. You might as well take advantage of it."

"What if I don't want to wear makeup or learn how to do my hair?"

"Why not?"

"I don't really want to wear makeup. I still think of myself as a guy and the whole makeup thing doesn't really fit."

"And the hair?" Ginny asked, curious.

Harry looked down, a little embarrassed. "It feels really nice when one of you does it for me." He answered quietly.

"It does, doesn't it?" Ginny smiled broadly. "If you learn how to do hair properly then I'll make you a deal. One I think that all the other girls would agree to. We'll do your hair if you do ours in return."

"That sounds fair." Hermione agreed, glancing at Padma.

Padma nodded. "Very fair. But I won't trust my hair to someone who doesn't know what they're doing."

Harry thought about it. "Alright, but the hair only. I'm still not wearing makeup."

"You may have to reconsider that if you need to go to a function, party or restaurant as a girl. But we won't force you, if you don't complain during your hair care training that is."

"I'll be the model student." Harry attempted to simulate that look. He failed but the girls were amused by his attempt.

They chatted for another couple of minutes before the floo flared and the three Auror's returned, dressed for a quiet trip to Diagon Alley instead of a training session.

"Hey you three. That was a suspiciously well time arrival. Did you plan it or something? A secret Auror time synchronisation technique that allows you to coordinate your movements?" Harry said.

"Yep. It is an incredibly secret technique that you only learn once you complete your Auror training." Tonks replied trying to look serious.

"What is it? Agreeing to meet at the Ministry early?"

Tonks's jaw dropped then she grumbled sullenly. "Yeah, okay. Good guess."

Kingsley grinned. "We just needed to inform Madam Bones that you required our services today for longer than expected."

"You didn't tell her where we were going?" Harry was a little surprised. "She's going to know anyway, with her niece coming along."

"If Miss Bones wishes to inform her aunt of her day's activities then she's most welcome to. The person under our protection does not require permission from the Head of the DMLE to visit Diagon Alley. If you wanted to visit the Malfoy's mansion we might need to discuss it. That would be a much more hazardous proposition."

"Actually, that isn't a bad idea." Harry mused. "We were planning on learning some spells for detecting hidden rooms, spells, wards and traps. The Malfoy's are supposed to have a hidden storage area full of dark items under one of the rooms. Trying to find it would be a good test."

"So, you're just going to knock on the door and ask the new Lord Malfoy if you can hunt around for illegal items?" Hestia asked sceptically.

Harry shrugged. "Something like that."

The floo flared again cutting off the conversation and Daphne stepped through carrying a bag.

"Afternoon everyone." She said absently as she looked Harry over. "Just as I thought, you don't have any robes other that your school ones do you?"

"Just the ones I wore to the Yule Ball. Why?"

You three Gryffindors are going to stand out. The rest of us together won't attract that much attention but you three would not be considered our usual company. The same with Luna. No offence but you need to look a little different otherwise it may cause problems."

"Okay." Harry nodded, seeing her concerns as being valid. "What do you suggest?"

Daphne was already rummaging in her bag and pulled out a pair of robes. "I think the green one would work on you and blue for you, Hermione. Sorry Ginny, you're a little small for my robes. Do you have any here?"

"A couple, I'll grab one." Ginny stood and hurried off.

Daphne returned her attention to the remaining Gryffindors. "Now, Harry, I think just a change in hair colour will be sufficient. Most people don't know what you look like as a girl. I dare say a lot of people don't believe that you are actually a girl."

"How does blonde sound?" Padma asked. "I picked up a few hair colouring charms from my sister."

"Yes. A darker blonde, though. We will make Luna's hair match when she returns and play on the whole sister thing you two have going."

Padma pulled her wand and waved it over Harry's head, turning his hair a deep blonde. A few more waves and there were a mix of lighter and darker strands running the entire length of his hair. Stepping back she admired her handiwork.

Daphne looked Hermione over. "Is there any colour you wanted to try?"

"Not really, but if you lighten it a lot and make it straighter, would that be enough?" Hermione asked as pulled a few locks over her shoulder so she could look at them.

"I think so. Padma, are finished with Harry yet?"

"Yes. What have you two decided on?"

"Much lighter and much straighter."

Padma nodded and began casting the necessary charms on Hermione's hair.

Harry had pulled off his Gryffindor robe and was pulling on the deep green robe Daphne had given him. "Umm. Daphne. I have a small problem here."

Daphne looked over and saw how Harry was trying and failing to close the robe, though he was much closer to succeeding than with his own robes.

"No, you have a big problem. Two of them. Just leave it open like you had your school one. Your white shirt and skirt will look good under it. Nice choices by the way. Do I still need to complement Hermione and Ginny or did you give in without needing to be told this time?"

"Ginny suggested it." Harry glared at the Slytherin girl. "I still find skirts a bit drafty, but Hermione and Ginny had a point when they said the by emphasising the fact I'm a girl people are less likely to recognise me.

"What did I suggest?" Ginny asked as she walked back in.

"Harry's skirt. Nice choice." Daphne answered.

"Thanks. Nice robe. And nice hair." Ginny looked Harry over as she complemented Daphne.

"Thank you. It's interesting how well Slytherin colours work on him. Perhaps a house change is in order?"

"No thanks." Harry still hadn't stopped glaring. "I'm quite happy in Gryffindor."

"Okay. I just thought I'd make the offer in case you were interested." Daphne ignored the glare directed at her and turned to Ginny. "We need to alter your hair colour so that it doesn't look like..."

Ginny cut her off. "Gryffindors and Slytherins hanging out together. Okay what do you suggest? Dark brown?"

"That may work actually. Padma, what do you think of Ginny with dark brown hair?"

Padma looked Ginny over thoughtfully. "A dark rich brown. Yes that would work." Padma began putting actions to her words.

"You look good." Harry complemented as he admired Ginny's new look. "And so do you Hermione. Padma, that was really good charm work."

"Thanks Harry." Padma replied. "We just need to change Luna's hair and we're all set."

"They should be here by soon." Daphne commented looking at the fireplace.

She was right. The floo started flaring and over the next couple of minutes the other girls stepped through into the entrance hall.

They took in the new look of the three Gryffindors with varying degrees of surprise. Luna being the least surprised but most excited, once she found out that her hair was going to be altered to match Harry's so that they could pose a sisters. She ran over to Padma to let her perform the charms.

"We need to get going. I'll just go and say goodbye to my mum." Hermione said, heading for the door.

"We should head out in smaller groups and meet up in the Alley." Susan suggested.

"That's a good idea." Hermione replied. "Put me in the last group. I'll be right back."

"It is." Kingsley agreed. "That's how an Auror should be thinking."

Hermione left the conversation that was turning into a discussion on Auror tactics. Walking through the house she found her mother in the lounge with a few books and magazines.

"Hi mum. We're just off to Diagon Alley."

"Oh, hello Hermione. It's nice to see you. I had hoped to spend more time with you today but it's nice to be able to catch up on my reading. And what have you done to your hair?"

"Sorry mum. Things have been really different. I haven't had the time to spend with you that I normally do." Hermione apologised.

Emily smiled. "It's alright. I'm glad to see you spend time with your friends. Your hair looks good, different, but good. What did you do?"

"Nothing." Hermione grinned and her mother's confusion. "Padma cast a few charms on it to lighten and straighten it. Harry and Ginny had their hair done as well. They look really good."

"I will have to see them. Where are they?" Emily started to get up.

"They may have left already. We're going to Diagon Alley in smaller groups to draw less attention."

"Okay. But make sure that they don't change their hair back before I get to see it though."

"Okay mum. I'll see you later."

"Have fun but please be safe."

"I will be. Bye."

"Bye Hermione."

Hermione hurried back to the Entrance Hall in time to see the second to last group leave. Hannah, Tracy and Hestia were all who remained.

"What did you mother have to say?" Tracy asked.

"Have fun, be safe, and she wants to see Harry and Ginny's new look before it's undone." Hermione replied. "How long before we go?"

"Another minute yet." Hestia replied. "We'll meet them at Gringotts."

Hermione nodded and sat to wait until it was time. "How are the potions going?"

"Very well actually." Hannah answered. "The animagus potion just needs to simmer for two days. We have been looking at what other potions we need and have a list of healing and enhancement potions that we will brew."

"We're going to try and get the ingredients we need today. It will cost a bit though." Tracy finished.

"Let Harry know. He'll probably help cover it. Actually, he's generous enough to pay for it all, but I don't want him to get in the habit. Still, for the war effort, I doubt we'll be able to stop him. We should try and get some extras as well if we can. We could all use a bit of potions practice as well." Hermione commented.

"Harry especially." Tracy grinned.

"Is he really bad at potions?" Hannah asked.

"Not really." Hermione replied. "Snape and some of the other Slytherin's cause him a lot of problems. Without that he really just needs to focus more."

"I like how you said 'some of the other Slytherin's'. Very diplomatic." Tracy grinned. "Malfoy always was a pest. But he had his father and Snape to back him up so there was very little we could do about it."

"With him gone, which Slytherin's do we need to keep an eye on?"

"Nott, I think. Crabbe and Goyle are cruel but they couldn't lead a Flobberworm. Zabini is a neutral, like Daphne and I used to be. Parkinson is the one I would worry about. She'd lash out at you simply to be spiteful. Especially if she learns of your involvement in his Malfoy's death."

Hermione thought this over. "Thanks Tracy. This can't be..."

"Time." Hestia interrupted as she stood and started for the fireplace.

"Easy for you." Hermione finished as she stood as well.

"It has its ups and downs." Tracy replied as she reached for the floo powder. "But the ups win."

They stepped through to the Leaky Cauldron and went out the backdoor and through the entrance to Diagon Alley. The Alley was active but not busy. The people went about their business quickly with little lingering.

Hermione shared glances with Tracy and Hannah as they followed Hestia down the Alley to Gringotts. There was an undercurrent of fear in the Alley.

"That was tense." Hannah breathed a sigh of relief as they walked through the doors into Gringotts.

"Just a little." Tracy agreed. "There are the others. Was it like that the last time you came?"

"I don't know. It was later in the day and there less people around." Hermione answered as they walked across the foyer.

"Hi. Glad you could make it." Harry called as they approached.

"Well, we were bored so we thought, hey lets go bug Harry for a while." Tracy shot back.

"You will find it hard to bug me when you look as good as you do." Harry turned back to the goblin he was talking to. "Okay Griphook. Now that we are all here it's time for a tour of my vaults. How did my request for a curse breaker go down?"

"Mr Weasley will be here with an assistant in a minute. He will meet us at the carts. The vaults keys will also be delivered there. We can start making our way there when you are ready." Griphook replied.

"Excellent. Let's go then." Harry led the way towards the carts.

They were met by another goblin who handed a small pouch to Harry. "Here are all your vault keys, Lord Potter."

"Thank you." Harry replied gratefully as he accepted the pouch.

"Which Weasley are we waiting for?" Tracy asked.

"Bill. My oldest brother. He's a Gringotts curse breaker." Ginny answered. "He was there when we toured the World Room."

"I remember a tall redhead with that French blonde who was the Beauxbatons Tri-Wizard champion."

"Fleur Delacour." Harry interrupted. "Nice to see you again. How are you Bill?"

The group turned to where Harry was heading as he gripped the hand of a tall, familiar redhead then accepted a hug from the beautiful blonde.

"Hey Harry." Bill greeted him. "Sorry we missed you at the tour. That was an amazing place you and Lictand created."

"Indeed 'Arry." Fleur agreed. "I like the new look by the way."

"Thanks. It's supposed to be a disguise."

"It works. It wasn't until I got close that I recognised you."

"Glad to hear it. Your English has really improved by the way."

"Thank you 'Arry. Bill had been an attentive tutor. 'E 'as been teaching me about warding as well. I am lucky to be able work as 'is assistant today."

"I requested her when I found out that I would be working for you. She is talented and very trustworthy." Bill added.

"Glad to hear it. You are both likely to get a work out today. Actually," Harry turned back to the goblin, "Griphook. Could you get some trunks with expanded insides please? We may need them to store any items that we need to remove. I'll want one for dark items alone."

Griphook nodded and left.

"You don't want to neutralise them?" Bill asked.

"Of course I do. Just later when we have time." Harry assured him.

"Fair enough. I could help you learn how to do it yourself if you want?"

"I was going ask if you could teach me warding and ward breaking."

"I'd be happy to. Just you or the others as well?" Bill asked.

"Mainly just me and maybe one or two other. But I'd like everyone else to have at least a basic knowledge of it."

"Alright. Where and when?"

"The World Room should give us enough room. I will liaise with Tapstone over your time."

"Thanks. It'll be nice to get paid for doing something safe for a change." Bill grinned.

Harry grinned back.

Griphook returned with a pair of trunks. "If there's nothing else, which vault do you wish to visit first?"

"We can start with the Malfoy vaults, then the Lestrange, Black and Potter vaults." Harry replied after a moment's thought.

"Certainly. Right this way. I have four carts linked for the purpose." Griphook led them on to the carts and they all took a seat.

"The Malfoy and Lestrange Vaults?" Kingsley looked at Harry thoughtfully from his neighbouring seat. "You got their titles somehow didn't you? That's how you can talk about visiting Malfoy manor so casually."

Harry nodded. "It's something I want to keep quiet for the time being though. Lucius Malfoy and the Lestrange's are likely to go on a rampage if they find out so I want to delay that as long as possible."

"And it will throw you-know-who's plans off if he doesn't know his financial support and been cut by so much." Kingsley nodded approvingly. "Very nice."

One rapid cart ride later they were outside the first of the Malfoy vaults with several of the girls looking a little green. Hermione was taking slow deep breaths while Ginny rubbed her back.

"That was not nice." She managed trying not to throw up.

"It's okay Hermione. You're not the only one who didn't like it." Harry reassured her.

"Whatever. Next time, I'm waiting in the foyer."

"Okay."

"Key please." Griphook interrupted.

Harry nodded and reached into the pouch and pulled out all the keys and looked through them until he found the correct one and handed it over.

The vault was opened to reveal a pile of gold and several trunks and chests stacked against a side wall.

"Is this it?" Harry asked. "I expected a little more. Daphne, shall we do the honours?"

The Slytherin girl nodded and pulled out a parchment with the necessary spells on it. Working together they both cast each spell several times to ensure they worked but had no results.

"Well, either it didn't work or there is nothing here." Daphne said finally.

Harry nodded. "Okay. Bill, can you scan the room for anything odd?"

Bill nodded. He had been watching the two students and had been disturbed by what he had seen. He hadn't recognised all of the spells the two had cast but the couple he had known did not bode well. He motioned Fleur to join him and they cast spells over the gold to check for any magical or physical items buried in the pile. Finding nothing they moved on to the trunks and repeated the magical check to find what, if any, spells or enchantments were on or in the trunks.

"I'm getting nothing. The trunks have been enlarged and there are a few items in them with magic but there is nothing unusual. It's probably just old stuff in storage. Certainly nothing dark."

"I agree." Fleur added. "Nothing here worth our time to pull out."

Harry nodded. "Okay, next vault then. I can't believe that Malfoy only had the two."

"Actually, there is some sense in it." Hermione contradicted him. "He had a hidden room for his dark items. It is possible that we will find other hidden rooms with more money. I doubt he would trust goblins with anything he really valued. It's also possible that he had additional accounts in other names. Unless we find some records at Malfoy Manor we'll never know."

"We could ask him under Veritaserum, we could get our hands on him." Harry said thoughtfully.

"An option, but one for another time."

Harry nodded and turned to the goblin. "Griphook, after you."

Griphook nodded and gestured for everyone to return to the cart. He shut the vault and returned the key to Harry while everyone else got settled. Harry joined Griphook in the front seat. The cart moved forward to the next vault.

They were on the third vault before they hit any results. They had found a few dark items in the previous vault, the first of the Lestrange vaults, but not what they were looking for.

It was a different vault to start off with, packed with coins, armour, and plethora of miscellaneous oddities. Bill's initial scan revealed a mass of traps and Harry and Daphne finally got a return on their scans.

"Okay, this place is heavily trapped." Bill stated. "We'd best leave it for another time."

"We can't." Harry shook his head. "There's something in there I have to get."

Bill looked at him and judged how serious he was. Nodding grimly he ran a few more scans.

"Okay, we can move through the vault but Do Not touch anything. You won't like the results. Just you Harry, everyone else wait outside."

"Bill..." Fleur protested.

"Sorry. Not this time. Too many things could go wrong."

Bill move into the vault carefully. Harry started to follow but paused then pulled off his robe and bundled it up tightly so it wouldn't knock anything. Bill nodded his approval and led him through the maze of items while everyone else waited outside for safety.

Harry periodically cast the detection charm and helped guide Bill in the right direction while Bill was constantly checking for any traps that might catch them.

They finally found the right shelf and with a few suggestions from Bill they zeroed in on the specific item. A small golden cup with two handles high up on the top shelf.

"Now that we've found it, how do we get it?" Harry asked.

"Do you think you could levitate me up carefully so I can take a closer look?"

"I'll try." Harry pulled his wand and focused carefully on Bill. Casting the Levitation charm he carefully lifted Bill up towards the ceiling.

"Just there. That great." Bill cast more spells on the cup and paused in thought. "Can I use your robe?"

"Sure. How do you want it?"

"Just like that." Bill used his wand to summon the tightly rolled robe and unbundled it enough to wrap around the cup. Gingerly reaching out he gently touched it to the cup. When nothing happened he grabbed the cup with the robe and fully wrapped the robe around it.

"Bring me down. Carefully. We aren't out of the woods yet."

Harry nodded and carefully returned Bill to the floor. Bill breathed a short sigh.

"Okay, now we leave. Remember not to touch anything." Bill said motioning Harry to lead the way.

Harry nodded and the two wizards carefully retraced their steps and left the vault.

"Damn, that was tense." Bill sat on the floor on the landing outside of the vault. "Griphook, can you send for a class 1 secure box from the warding department to put this in."

Griphook nodded. "I'll be right back. Should I close the vault first?"

"Yes. It's far too dangerous to leave it open." Bill said.

Griphook closed the vault and returned the key to Harry. He then got in the cart and left for the surface to fill Bill's request.

"Can we see it?" Daphne asked.

Bill though a second then nodded. "Okay, but do not touch it. You have no idea how dangerous it is. Do you know what you're dealing with?"

"Yes." Harry replied grimly. "We know exactly what this is. Do you?"

"It's a Horcrux." Bill said softly. "I've encountered them before, in Egypt. I lost a team mate to one. How do you know about them?"

"I encountered one in my second year." Harry replied.

"In your 'second' year?" Bill grew alarmed and looked at Ginny.

Ginny nodded. "That's what happened to me." She said softly.

Bill grabbed Ginny in a huge hug. "I'm so glad you are safe. How did you survive?"

"Harry. He destroyed it before it could kill me."

"How? The only ways I know of are hugely dangerous and destructive." Bill looked questioningly at Harry.

"Basilisk venom. Did you meet Sally? I know you saw the basilisk skull that day at Gringotts."

"That must have been incredibly potent venom."

"It is; I can vouch for it personally. I have the scar to prove it."

"It bit you?! And you survived?!" How the hell did you manage that?"

"Fawkes was most helpful."

"I see. What's going on Harry?"

"We're getting rid of Voldemort."

"So that's how he survived." Bill mused. "But, if you destroyed the one that Ginny had, what is this one?"

"Another one." Harry replied dryly.

"He made more than one?" Bill gasped.

"What is a Horcrux?" Fleur asked, enunciating the unfamiliar word carefully. "I can tell that it's bad, I can feel 'ow evil that cup is from 'ere."

"A Horcrux is an object that contains a part of someone's soul so that they can cheat death. It requires a murder based ritual."

Fleur paled and nodded. "That is bad."

The three Auror's had been silently watching in the background but this revelation elicited a reaction.

"Is that how he survived his first encounter with Harry?" Kingsley asked for the group.

"Yes." Harry confirmed. "This is critical information. Voldemort cannot find out that not only do we know about them, we have found them, or some of them. We don't know how many he made."

"Why are you being so careful with the cup? Is it that dangerous?" Tonks asked.

Bill nodded. "They may seem benign but if you activate them they can take over a person. It can also restore the maker by sucking the life out of a victim."

Fleur looked at Ginny in shock. "You nearly died?" A tear formed in her eye. "I cannot say how glad I am that you survived."

"Thanks, but it's due to Harry that I lived. He fought the reforming you-know-who and his sixty foot basilisk to save me."

Fleur spun to stare at Harry. "In your second year? You were in your fourth year during the Tournament, oui?"

Harry nodded.

"No wonder you did so well. The Tournament would be a letdown after something like that."

"It wasn't really but I suppose I did have a bit of an unfair advantage." Harry finally managed to turn the conversation to a better topic.

"I must apologise again for the 'little boy' comment."

"Don't worry about it." Harry waved her concerns away with an absent wave of his hand.

The lightening of the conversation meant the girls turned back to their inspection of the cup until Hannah, leaning to see around to the other side squealed in surprise.

"Roll it over. Please." She asked Bill urgently.

Bill obliged her and rolled the cup revealing an engraving of an animal. A badger.

"I knew it. It's Hufflepuff's Cup. It belonged to Helga Hufflepuff herself." Hannah gushed.

"Wow, your right." Susan looked at in awe. "I never thought I would ever see it."

"Quite the trip you are taking us on, Harry." Daphne commented. "When do we find remnants of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw?"

Harry just grinned. The returning cart stopped the conversation and Griphook stepped out and handed a small box to Bill. Bill used the robe to put the cup in the box and closed the box and tapped it with his wand to seal it.

"We need to get moving." Harry said. "We still have a few more vaults to visit and there are other things to do today."

"Okay." Bill nodded. "Can we expect anymore shocks?"

Harry shrugged. "Who knows? But we need to find out."

They didn't find much, just a few minor dark items, until they reached the Potter vaults, vaults that they deliberately left for last. The first one just had money, and a lot of it. A quick check revealed that there was nothing hidden in the gold and they left with a few shocked faces at the sheer amount of gold in one place. The next Potter vault held a gold mine, but not of gold. The vault had been used for storage. Trunks, chests, ancient items, Harry just stared at the history left behind by his ancestors. Bill, Fleur and Daphne ran their scan while Harry recovered his composure.

Once they announced that the vault was clear Hermione and Ginny joined Harry and hugged, whispering reassuring things in his ears until he was able to focus again.

Okay, everyone." His voice was still a little shaky. "Have a look around and see what you can find that may be useful."

With one last hug each Hermione and Ginny moved into the vault. The other girls followed suit, giving Harry a hug and a whisper of support as they moved past him.

"There is so much more in here than I expected, How? Why?" Harry asked Griphook.

"When your parents went into hiding they went to a nearby safe house Dumbledore was preparing for them. They packed up everything they didn't need and stored it here. After they were killed and you were placed into hiding, Gringotts went and packed up everything that survived to protect it from looters."

"Thank you." Harry said sincerely.

"You're welcome. Gringotts has always had a good relationship with the Potter family."

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. I had so few things from my parents until now. I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything. Just go and explore your past." Griphook gave him a gentle push. "The items we recovered from your parents are over there on the left. If I remember correctly, the personal items we recovered are in the three trunks on the far left."

Harry shot Griphook a grateful look and headed over to look in the indicated trunks. He pulled down the smallest of the three trunks which was sitting on top. Opening it he found filled with children's toys blankets and clothes. Pulling out an odd but brightly coloured stuffed animal to see what was underneath it he heard a stifled gasp from Tonks behind him. Turning round he saw her approaching him grinning nostalgically.

"I had forgotten about this." Tonks said quietly as she reached him.

She gently took the toy of him and looked it over before giving it a little cuddle.

"This used to be mine. Sirius was very close to my mother while I was young. He was almost like a big brother to me. When you were born and he was named your godfather he would bring me to visit you on occasion." Tonks paused in though. "I remember that you were rather boring to start off with but when you were older you became fun to play with. This toy was my constant companion while I was growing up so I took it everywhere with me. You really liked bright colours back then so you like playing with it with me. You even used accidental magic to steal it from me."

Tonks laughed at the memory. "I would then try to steal it back. Sirius and James used to laugh at the two of us squabbling over this thing. You even duplicated it once, drool and all. It only lasted an hour but it stopped the fight."

Tonks paused, smiling at the memory. "When you turned one I decided that I was too big to play with it so I gave it to you as a present."

Tonks handed it back and stood shaking off the mood. "I had forgotten all that. It's good to remember those times. There were a lot of good memories that I locked away after your parents were killed and Sirius was imprisoned." She gripped his shoulder and went back to her post.

Harry returned the toy to the chest and closed it. There were too many emotions tied up in these mementos to look at them now. He pulled his wand and moved them three trunks over to the door to bring with him.

Heading back to the other trunks he began looking through them for anything useful. He found two with kitchen equipment, plates and cutlery which he also pulled out. When he was getting things for the kitchen/living area he forget the smaller things like bowls, knives, forks, spoons, practically everything really. There were a few trunks of ornaments and miscellaneous items the Harry found interesting, at least one of his parents, probably his mother, had very elegant taste.

It was the second to last trunk that he also pulled out to take. It must have come from a study; there were stacks of parchments and a couple of dozen books. The books covered a few types of magic but the real treasure were the books titles Potter Wards, volume five by Edward Potter and volume twelve by James Potter. Judging by the condition of the book he didn't think it was his father but it still stirred his heart.

He moved the three extra trunks over to the door then looked around the vault as the girls continued to explore. He noticed how careful they were being to avoid disturbing things, so that when he was ready to look around properly it would look the same.

"Harry, you have got to see this." Hermione shouted from the back of the vault.

Threading his way through the vault and the other girls he joined Hermione at a huge bookshelf. She, Tracy and Daphne had been pulling various titles from the shelves and had built a stack at the end of the shelves to take with them. Harry looked where Hermione was pointing.

"Look what I found." She said, too excited to wait for to Harry to see where she was pointing. "The Potter family's books on wards. It goes up to volume nineteen, although I couldn't find volumes five and twelve."

"I found those two already." Harry replied absently as he looked the titles over, seeing all the different Potter's who had written the books over the years. "I think I have learnt more of my family's history just looking at these titles than I have in the last decade."

"We will look in to it, I promise. It'll just have to wait a while." Hermione hugged him.

"I know." Harry shook himself. "Bring all of them. I'll work through them when I have a better grounding in Runes."

Hermione nodded and began pulling the books out and passing them to Tracy to stack. "We'll be done here in about another ten minutes."

Harry nodded and headed back to the door.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting." Harry apologised to the three Aurors and the three Gringotts employees.

"Don't worry about it Harry." Kingsley reassured him. "We are at your disposal so while you're out and about, we have nothing better to do. Plus there was a huge bonus for the war effort."

"You are paying for our time." Bill said. "You should hurry for your own sake, not ours."

"Speaking of your time, when can you start teaching us warding?"

"Not this week. We're worked over time. If you hadn't given Tapstone warning that you wanted my assistance today, you wouldn't have gotten me. That is actually why Fleur is my assistant today even though she is not a member of the warding team."

"When you have time. Do you have any books on the subject? Warding, ward breaking, curse breaking, mapping and exploring ruins, finding hidden items and rooms, that sort of thing?"

"There are a few books I could recommend. The best ones you'll have to wait on though. They're Gringotts training manuals. I can't just give them to you. I have to ask Tapstone for permission to give them to you but you never know, he may let you."

"He probably will." Griphook commented.

"Do you have anything else to sort out at Gringotts this afternoon?" Bill asked.

"Yes. I have a couple of thing I need to work through with Hooksnarl. Why?" Harry replied.

"I'll try and have those books ready for you before you leave."

"That would be great." Harry thanked him.

The girls started gathering at the vault entrance, Hermione, Tracy and Daphne at the rear levitating the books. They packed them in the trunk Griphook had provided and turned to Harry.

"We're done here. Let's go, we still have to hit Diagon Alley this afternoon." Hermione motioned for him to get in the cart.

"Interesting." Harry commented as he got in. "Here I was waiting for them and now, all of a sudden, I'm the one who is holding them up."

Kingsley laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "It's just one of those things guys have to put up with."

This set Tonks laughing.

There was only one more stop before they returned to the foyer, Harry's trust vault. Everyone had seen more gold that day than ever before but the contents of this vault was just unreal. The mountain of gold dwarfed everything they had ever seen before.

Harry pulled out the trunk that only had the books that Hermione and the two Slytherin's had pulled out. Carrying it over to the vault he began scooping handfuls of galleons into it. A few thousand coins were piled into the chest before he flipped the lid closed.

"Do you want to scan your vault before we leave?" Bill asked.

Harry paused and looked back at the vault. "Yeah, we should. Just to be safe."

Bill joined him at the vault entrance and they scanned the vault with no results.

Harry shrugged looking a little down. "I know we didn't expect to find anything but..." He trailed off.

"It would have been nice though, wouldn't it?" Bill finished for him.

Harry nodded, turned and headed back to the cart.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

And here is part 2.

**Chapter 13**

Reaching the foyer, far above the vaults they had just spent the last couple of hours in, Harry opened the trunk he had stuffed the gold into and started filling several money bags. He handed the bags out to the girls, much to their surprise.

"You don't need to do this." Susan protested.

Harry shrugged. "You need to hunt down anything we might need, books," Harry nodded at Hermione, "potion ingredients," another nod towards Hannah and Tracy, "and anything else that may be useful. I have some business here to finish up so you lot should start without me and I will join you as soon as I can."

Hermione nodded."Okay, we'll get going. Be quick."

"Yes." Daphne added. "We need to get you some new robes and I need the robe you are 'borrowing' checked for damage."

Harry looked at the now heavily wrinkled robe and winced. "Sorry about that. Will a new one help?"

"I'll think about it." Daphne replied primly.

"Well, I'll see you all later. Bye everyone. See you, sis." Bill waved and headed off.

"Au revoir.' Fleur joined him.

Kingsley straightened. "Tonks, you remain here with Harry. Jones, we'll escort the others."

The other two Aurors nodded and the group headed out into the Alley.

"Just one question before we go Griphook." Harry said as he watched the last of the girls disappear out through the main entrance.

"Yes?"

"What do we do about these trunks?"

"Call your house-elves. They can take them home while you finish up here."

"Ah, cool. Dobby? Winky?" Harry called.

A few seconds later the two house-elves could be seem trotting through the main doors.

Dobby as about to bounce up to Harry when Winky slapped him on the shoulder and glared at him, causing him to settle.

"You called Master Harry?" Winky asked quietly.

"Yes, can you two take these trunks home and put them in my bedroom?"

"Yes Master Harry. Would you like us to unpack them as well?"

"No. I need to work through them myself."

"Of course Master Harry. We will see you when you get home." The two elves levitated the trunks and took them out the main doors before disappearing, returning home.

"That was easy. Thank you Griphook." Harry turned to the goblin.

"You're welcome Harry. Right this way." The goblin led Harry and Tonks to his superior's office.

Hooksnarl looked up as they entered. "Good afternoon Harry. How are you today? Was your vault inspection successful?"

"Hello Hooksnarl. I'm good. The vault inspection went much better than expected, although I request that what I found remain confidential."

"I can assure you that your dealings with us are totally confidential."

"You miss my point. It should never be spoken of. Ever! It is best to be completely forgotten." Harry gave both Tonks and Griphook a pointed look.

Griphook nodded and bowed to his superior. "I beg of you to never ask me what we found down in the vaults and am willing to submit to memory alteration to remove today from my memory."

Hooksnarl studied his subordinate and nodded. "Very well, and take the rest of the day off to recover."

"Thanks you. Good day Harry. I hope that your endeavour goes well." Griphook left.

"Wow." Harry was shocked. "Just like that?"

"I am rather surprised myself." Hooksnarl contemplated the now departed younger goblin. "You must have made quite the impression, and found something very important."

"Critical actually, but I can't say any more." Harry said.

Hooksnarl nodded. "I wasn't going to ask. I do hope that you will be able to tell me the story someday though."

"Maybe." Harry replied noncommittally. "We have some business to discuss and I have a contract between myself and Lord Patil that needs to be written and can you do emergency Portkeys?"

"Yes, let's get to work. Are you alright with the young lady present?"

"Tonks? She can stay. I can ask her to put up a privacy ward around us if that would make you more comfortable."

"Please. I would prefer not to talk about a client's business in front of someone who is not a family member."

"She is actually a Black but I don't think we will be dealing with that family so, Tonks, if you please..."

Tonks glanced at Hooksnarl and, receiving a nod, pulled her wand and cast the ward.

Harry and Hooksnarl got to work.

!HPEaSE!

Harry stretched. It had taken some work but they had finished. He rolled up the sheets of parchment with the copies of the contract with Lord Patil on them.

Hooksnarl gestured to Tonks to remove the privacy ward. "Thank you for your patience."

"Not a problem, you might want to deal with this guy though." Tonks indicated the young goblin waiting next to her.

"Ah yes, does Tapstone need me?"

"No sir. He wants to see Lord Potter." The goblin replied.

"Well, we're done here Harry. I will see you next time." Hooksnarl shook Harry's hand.

"You as well Hooksnarl." Harry stood and followed the young goblin out.

He and Tonks were led through the halls of Gringotts and into an office where Tapstone was working.

"Ah, Harry. Glad you could make it. I hope I am not keeping you from anything. Were Mr Weasley and Miss Delacour helpful?"

"Very helpful. I may need more of their time in the future."

"Just let me know when as I will do my best to ensure that their schedules can accommodate you."

"How about, in an hour or two?" Harry asked.

"Two hours." Tapstone agreed. "Now, Mr Weasley passed on a request for training materials. I cannot provide you with the Gringotts warding manuals. They are for Gringotts warders only. So I can only supply you with the introductory warding books. I also have some books on Curse Breaking and Tomb Raiding." He pulled several books out of a draw and handed them over.

"I think you will find those books provide you with everything you wanted to know." The goblin grinned at Harry.

"I can't thank you enough for these." Harry looked the books over. "How is the warding going?"

"Ah, yes. You need an update on the warding projects. How remiss of me but your warding fund has produced such a large response that we have been dreadfully overworked. I can give you a brief summary now but the full report will require a few days while we sort through all the documents."

"A brief report will be fine." Harry assured him.

"We have warded all the homes of the families you indicated. Of the properties you personally own there are still some properties outstanding. We have finished at your Privet Drive residence, which is the only one currently occupied. We have not been able to find the Black family's London residence and the Potter Manor is locked down and currently totally inaccessible until you release it."

Harry nodded. "The Black residence is under the Fidelius Charm. How is the Potter Manor 'locked down'?"

"It is a special set of wards that totally prevents all access and manipulation without a key, usually the blood of the family who locked it down."

"Voldemort used some of my blood when he resurrected himself a year ago. Would he be able to unlock the wards?"

"If it was any other family than the Potters I would say that it was possible. Blood may be the active ingredient but it only acts as a link for proof of identity. Stolen blood won't work. We have tried to get the formula from the Potter family for decades, unsuccessfully I might add. You wouldn't be interested in selling it to us would you?"

Harry laughed. "For the time being I will respect my family's decision and decline."

Tapstone grinned back. "I thought as much. Is there anything else? Where would you like Mr Weasley to join you?"

"At the Granger residence. I'll let you get back to work. Thank you for the training materials."

Harry stood, bit the goblin farewell and headed for the door.

He paused as he left and looked back. "Umm, I don't suppose you could spare your assistant to show us the way out. I don't think we could find it on our own."

"Certainly." Tapstone summoned his assistant and gave him a few instructions.

Harry and Tonks followed the goblin out to the foyer where they thanked the young goblin and headed out into the Alley in search of the others.

"Where do you suggest first?" Tonks asked.

"Probably the bookstore knowing Hermione. I want to look in Quality Quidditch Supplies first though."

"Any reason in particular, or are you just sating your Quidditch fetish?"

"Both. I want to have a look but I may need to get a few brooms as well. It depends on what they have and how much they cost."

"Why?" Tonks was genuinely curious.

"You saw the girls' brooms yesterday. Brooms are a brilliant means of getting around without if you can't Apparate or Portkey."

"Very true." Tonks agreed.

"Can you make purchases with only your vault key? I have money but I don't know if I have enough."

"Yep. You can use your key to mark a payment agreement as valid. Gringotts will check it and shift the money. The other option is to give your key to your house-elf and ask them to get the money."

"Cool. Let's see what they have." Harry opened the door to the store allowing Tonks to enter first.

Harry and Tonks browsed the brooms trying to find which brooms to get.

"I really think that the Nimbus 2000 will be the best choice. Fast and agile but stable enough for Hermione to learn on." Harry was saying. "The 2001 model gets unstable if you try maxing it out."

"I know but you should still look at the Firebolt. They are much cheaper than they were a couple of years ago and you have the money." Tonks countered.

"Yeah but we'll never get Hermione on one. I don't think she could ever handle it either and there is no point having Firebolts if she doesn't. She'll slow us down."

"You don't think a mix will work? The four girls that we're teaching all have the reactions for Firebolts."

"You think I should put them on Firebolts and the rest on 2000's?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. They can move around the formation and provide support where necessary and if you have to send the others on ahead, you'll be able to catch up." Tonks explained

"I like it." Harry grinned. "I wonder if I should get a new Firebolt as well?"

"Why? Something wrong with your old one?"

"No, but it was a present from Sirius. I don't want anything to happen to it." Harry pondered for a moment. "I wonder if there is anything better coming out soon?"

"You can ask."

"Do you need a new broom?"

"NO! You are not buying me a broom." Tonks glared at him.

"Why not? You are family. As your Head am I not allowed to treat you if I want?"

"Yes but I'm not family yet. We forgot about the re-admittance ceremony."

"Damn. We did, didn't we? I'm really sorry about that. Your mother must be disappointed."

"I think she's still in shock from the tour of the World Room." Tonks chuckled.

"We should try and do it tonight. Do you know what's involved?"

"Not a lot. You just need to dress formally and make a nice speech."

"Sounds easy enough."

The store owner approached them. "Are either of you interested in a broom?"

"Actually, I'm interested in several. Do you know if there are any new brooms coming out, one better than a Firebolt perhaps?" Harry asked.

"No. I know that they are working on a new version of the Firebolt but I don't expect them to finish for at least another year. There is a new Nimbus due in a month of so but I wouldn't expect much from it. They are trying to compete with the Firebolt but I think they've rushed it too much and it'll have stability issues."

"So the 2000 is still the better broom then?"

"The Nimbus 2001 is the faster broom."

"Only a little and the handling sucks if you max it out." Harry commented looking at the Nimbus 2000 on display.

"You've flown one then?" The store owner asked.

"No, I flew against one on a 2000. Its stability issues were quite obvious."

"So you will be looking at a Firebolt then. It's the best broom we have."

"I know." Harry turned to Tonks. "You won't stop complaining if I buy you a Firebolt won't you?"

"Don't even think about it." Tonks glared back at him.

"Okay. So that is five Nimbus 2000's and four or five Firebolts. I'm still not sure."

"I assume you are buying them for your friends?" The man asked. "Is there one you are not sure about?"

"No. The fifth one is for me. I don't know if I should replace my current Firebolt."

"You already have a Firebolt? That, young lady, is Impossible. The only privately owned Firebolt in Brittan is owned by Harry Potter himself." The store owner was indignant. "I sent that one to him personally."

Harry turned his distinctive green eyes on the man. "I didn't know that. It was very well wrapped."

The store owner was caught, mesmerised by the vivid green eye of the girl in front of him. He looked closer at the face, framed by blonde locks and was caught in a memory.

"The Profit did claim recently that Harry Potter had been turned into a girl. I thought it was just rubbish. They spent the last year trashing him then an immediate bout face claiming he had faced you-know-who in the Ministry foyer. But seeing you here..." The man looked astounded. "I've seen you often enough, looking in the window, especially when the Firebolt first came out. You were here every day for weeks. I didn't recognise you."

"That was my intent actually. I would appreciate it if you kept quiet about it." Harry said.

"Of course. Did you really fight... Him again?"

"Yes. He interrupted me while I was fighting Bellatrix Lestrange."

"You fought her as well? She is really dangerous I forget how many Auror's they lost capturing her. You faced them both at the same time?"

"No. Dumbledore showed up." Harry glared at the man for bringing up bad memories.

"Right. Back to business." The man had gotten the hint. "You were deciding if you were going to replace your own broom. Would it help that I could give you a discount if you were to buy ten brooms?"

"How much?" Harry was very interested.

"Would 10% be suitable?"

"It would indeed." Harry pulled out his trust vault key to make the payment and called for Winky while the store owner was wrapping up the brooms.

"You called Mistress?" Winky asked as she appeared.

"It's okay. He knows who I am. Thanks for keeping it a secret thought." Harry told her.

"It's what a respectable house-elf does. What does you want Winky to do?"

"Can you take these back home please?" Harry asked the elf.

"Yes, Master Harry." Winky vanished with the brooms.

"A pleasure doing business with you." Harry bid the man farewell and left the store with Tonks to find the others.

As expected they were in Flourish and Blotts building up a collection of books. Hermione and Daphne seemed to be in a deep discussion over which book on Runes to get while the others were looking through various other sections, pulling out books they thought suitable. The clerk had a several stacks of books on one side of the counter that must have been what the girls had already selected.

"Why don't we just ask for a copy of everything?" Harry asked everyone in general.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Ginny came over and gave him a brief hug.

Luna hugged him as soon as Ginny released him. "Hermione is getting obsessive again. I think that..."

Harry cut her off. "I had better sort those two out before they pull their wands."

Hermione picked up that comment and rounded on him. "We're having a discussion. We are not about to start hexing each other." She huffed at him.

"Oh, sorry. What seems to be the problem?"

"Daphne thinks that there is no point getting this book but there is some really good information in it."

"And Daphne?"

"There is good information in it but most of it is in the books we already have. The bits that aren't are better covered in this book." Daphne pulled a book of the shelf to show him.

"That sounds reasonable."

"Yes." Hermione agreed. "But this book will introduce that book better."

"So why can't we get both of them." Harry asked.

"Have you seen the pile of books we have already?" Hermione pointed at the counter. "We can't just buy everything."

"True. One copy of Lockhart's books is too many." Harry shrugged. "If we are going to have a library then it might as well be a good one. Will you be much longer?"

"A little while yet." Hermione took both books to the counter. "Daphne wanted to show you something though, and you can look in other stores while we finish up here."

"Can I help?" Harry asked.

"Not really. We worked out how to do this quickly. You'll just get in the way at the moment. Go and let us finish. Go and look at the Quidditch shop like I know you want to. You can treat us to ice-cream afterwards." Hermione shooed him towards the door.

"Okay." Harry grinned. "Daphne?"

The Slytherin girl nodded and joined Harry.

"I found a pensive for sale. It cost more than we could spare and still buy the potion ingredients and books so I had to leave it but if you remember I thought it would be good to get one."

"Yes. Alright. Lets go." Harry gestured for her to lead.

Harry followed her out of the store, joined by both Tonks and Kingsley. She led them to another store further down the Alley which sold magical and enchanted items.

"Here it is." She indicated a large stone basin. "It is more than we really need but we did need one and it may be a while before we see another one."

Harry nodded. "That's okay. What's so special about this one?"

"It is big enough for all of to use at once and still have room left over. It can also project the images and allow for manipulation of the image to see it better." Daphne explained.

"In what way is this too much?" Harry was confused.

"I thought that you would just need a small basic one..." Daphne trailed off surprised.

Harry just smiled at her. "Is there anything else in here that may be useful?"

"I didn't see anything but we can have another look?"

"Lets."

The two looked around and found a wizarding tent large enough for all of them but the rest of the items were just magical miscellanea. Nothing that would be of any real use to them.

Buying the Tent and Pensive Harry called Winky again to return the purchase home.

"Convenient isn't it, have house-elves?" Daphne grinned.

"They can be really helpful but so many are mistreated. That's why Dobby is so weird. He was very badly abused by the Malfoy's." Harry explained.

"Is that where he came from? Huh. I never knew. How did you get him? And Winky for that matter." Daphne was curious.

"Dobby came to warn me about what was going to happen in second year. He kept trying to get me to leave Hogwarts to stay safe. Do you remember that Bludger that attacked me during the Gryffindor Slytherin Quidditch match?"

"Yes, did he bewitch it?"

"Yep. And he blocked the entrance to the platform so Ron and I missed the train."

"Didn't you two fly a car to Hogwarts?"

"Yeah. We got in so much trouble for that. Plus the car is still running around the Forbidden Forest. It wasn't too happy with us after we crashed into the Whomping Willow but it did save us from the Acromantula colony in the Forest."

"There is an Acromantula colony in the Forbidden Forest?" Daphne spun around to face Harry with shock on her face.

"Yeah. The leader, Aragog, used to be a pet of Hagrid when he was a student."

"Is there anything that goes on around Hogwarts that you either don't know about or aren't involved in?" Daphne demanded.

"Well, I don't know which guys you have spent some time in a broom closet with."

Daphne gasped and slapped his arm. "How dare you! I don't do that sort of thing." She scolded him.

"Okay. With girls then?" Harry dodged her next swipe. "I know you and Tracy are really close."

A growl of rage was Harry's only warning to run and he took it as the Slytherin girl chased him all the way back to the book store with her trying to hit him.

Back in the store Harry ducked behind Tracy, trying to hide from Daphne.

"Quick, how do you stop Daphne from killing you?"

Tracy looked at him then Daphne. "You don't. You just stand there and take it like a man. Unless you have a really good bribe."

"How does she like flying?" Harry asked as Daphne bore down on him.

"Loves it. She will probably try for the Seeker position now that Malfoy's gone. Why?" Tracy asked.

"You'll find out." Harry was grinning now.

"Are you ready to die?" Daphne stood in front of him.

"No." Harry replied cheekily. "But if you kill me then you will miss out on the really nice surprise I have waiting for you at home."

Daphne paused, looking at Harry intently. "A really nice surprise? You mean it? It's not just something that you think is nice and everyone else will hate?"

"No, I honestly think you will like it. Please don't hurt me." Harry pleaded still keeping Tracy between the two of them.

Daphne stared at him, thinking deeply. "If you are trying to fool me, if your surprise is not up to scratch, I will hex you so badly you will think you are a... a... a new born badger." She had to pause to rethink her treat. Making him think he was a baby girl was as impressive as he was already half way there.

Harry just kept grinning. Tracy was grinning now as well. Watching Daphne have to rethink her threat mid spiel was probably the funniest thing she had ever seen her friend do.

The other girls were grinning as well. Watching Daphne, who was always so calm and collected, lose it was probably a once in a life time opportunity and they were enjoying every minute of it.

"So, Hermione, are you finished here?" Harry asked, trying to distract Daphne from killing him.

"Yes. These are the last books. We just need to pay." Hermione replied.

"Okay. Where do we need to go next? I promised you ice-cream and we meet Bill in about an hour."

"We are going to Madam Malkin's and we are going to find out if my robe is fixable or if you are buying me a new one." Daphne stated firmly.

"You should get some robes of your own while we are there." Tracy added.

"Yes. I'm not lending you a robe again if this is how you treat them." Daphne ground out.

"I'm really sorry but it was important." Harry apologised.

Daphne just huffed and walked off to wait by the door.

"Umm. Harry?" Hermione called him over. "I've paid and the books are all packed up but how do we get them all home?"

"I know how, but you won't like it." Harry answered her.

"Oh don't tell me that you are..." Hermione started in on him.

Harry nodded and called, "Dobby, Winky."

The two house-elves appeared. Dobby opened his mouth to speak but was elbowed into silence by Winky.

"You called Mistress?" Winky asked politely.

"Yes. We need these books to be taken home."

"At once Mistress. Does you wish us to unpack them into the library as well?"

"No. I think Hermione would like to do that personally, she may like you to help though."

"We will be happy to assist her." Winky bowed to Harry and directed Dobby to help her with the books. They quickly had them organised and vanished taking them with them.

"Shall we go?" Harry asked Hermione who had watched the conversation with a look or surprise.

"Okay." She replied absently and allowed Harry to lead her from the store.

At Madam Malkin's Daphne glared at Harry until he removed her robe and handed it over.

"Please Madam Malkin. Tell me that you can fix it. Please."

The older woman looked the robe over and pulled her wand. With a few quick charms the robe looked like new again.

"There you go Miss Greengrass. All fixed. Will your mother be joining us today?"

"Not today. But I have a few friends who need some new robes, if you could help them please?"

"Certainly. Who is first?"

"Her." Daphne pointed at Harry. "Before she destroys another of my robes."

Madam Malkin smiled. "Come right over here dear so that I can measure you. Do you go to Hogwarts? I haven't seen you in here before."

"I do. We have met before but I have changed quite a lot since I was last in here." Harry replied.

"Really." Madam Malkin looked more closely then here eyes widened. "Oh. Of course. Umm. How are you doing?"

"Coping."

Madam Malkin gave him a soft smile. "I assume that this isn't your natural hair colour then? It's a good disguise I didn't recognise you at first."

"Thank you. I was trying not to be noticed. It's good to know that I did a good job of succeeding."

"Will you be keeping this hair colour or returning to your normal one?" Madam Malkin asked, smiling at his comments.

"Umm? Why?" Harry was a little confused.

"You don't want robes that clash with your hair colour." Daphne explained. "Actually, you should get robes that match a variety of hair colours. You may need different disguises."

Harry shrugged. "You heard her. She has spoken and so we must obey."

Daphne glared at him as Madam Malkin led him away to be measured.

As soon as he was out of sight she smirked. "He's coming along nicely."

"You mean you're not angry at him?" Ginny looked surprised.

"No. As much as I like my clothes, it's just a robe. It's nowhere near as important as what he was doing." Daphne shrugged.

"So what were you doing?"

"I want him to be able to be with us without holding back. At no point did he actually give in to me. He teased me every step of the way." Daphne's expression relaxed into a soft smile. "I want to have the same relaxed relationship that you and Hermione have."

"Well. You are well on your way to that. I've never seen him act like that towards anyone." Hermione entered the conversation.

"Really?" Daphne was surprised.

"Yeah. Ever since the end of Hogwarts I've noticed that he has been acting different. He has been more, more, I don't know, happier. Despite his issues with being a girl he's been more relaxed, more determined..." Hermione shrugged, at a loss to describe her friend.

"What do you think it is? The Ministry, what happened when he became a girl?" Ginny asked.

"A combination probably." Hermione looked thoughtful. "On another topic, do we all want some robes that would suit different hair colours?"

"Most of us are of a similar build. We can share easily enough. It's only Ginny, Luna and Harry who are sufficiently different to need their own."

"Okay, Luna and I are short. You can just say it." Ginny slumped into a chair.

"There is a muggle saying that seems appropriate. 'Good things come in small packages'." Hermione quoted.

Ginny perked up at that.

"Come on. Let's find ourselves a few things." Daphne said to the two Gryffindors. "The others have already started."

They started looking for their own robes and were soon joined by Harry who had been measured and now working with Madam Malkin to find suitable styles and materials. The girls selected a few items for him and soon Madam Malkin had enough to start making several robes for him.

As the girls decided on what they wanted an assistant would help fit them. They were only in the store for three quarters of an hour. Madam Malkin wouldn't finish for a while yet, but had assured Harry that his order would be ready before he left the Alley.

As they headed back up the Alley to Florean Fortescues's Ice-Cream Parlour, Daphne paused and looked down Knockturn Alley.

"We should really take a look down there at some point." She commented.

"There is an Auror's dream assignment; taking a high risk target down the most dangerous Alley in London." Kingsley gave the Slytherin girl a very direct look.

"Okay, it's risky. But we should still do it at some point." Daphne defended herself.

"Harry own properties and businesses down there that he should inspect." Hermione put her two knuts in.

"If Harry gets a lot of the dark items and books out of there then he is denying the other side from having access to them." Luna added.

Everyone turned to look and the young Ravenclaw. She had just made a reasonable and intelligent comment without referring to any obscure creatures. That alone was enough to shock everyone who knew her.

"That's an argument that will get me to agree, but not until I feel you lot are ready for it." Kingsley told the blonde girl. "We can't spare the Aurors at the moment."

"I know. It'll be a good test of our skills." Luna turned back towards the Ice-Cream Parlour. "I wonder if they have any new flavours to try."

Kingsley grinned as the girl floated towards the Parlour. "I would write her off as irrelevant if I hadn't seen her ability with a wand and moments like that."

Harry grinned. "She is eccentric but lovable because of it. She's totally honest and very insightful."

He ran to catch up with her and they walked the rest of the way together discussing their favourite flavours.

They all spent the rest of their time in Diagon Alley sitting at the tables chatting happily about anything and everything. They totally lost track of time and so were surprised by Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour as they walked along the Alley to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Hello everyone." Bill greeted them. "I didn't expect to see you all here."

"But here we are." Harry replied. "You're just in time. We were just finishing. I have a few robes to pick up, but we're ready to go."

"I'll get your robes. You all head home." Tonks volunteered.

"Thanks. See you in a few minutes." Harry watches Tonks head off.

The rest of them headed to the Leaky Cauldron. Before they flooed back to the Granger Residence Harry pulled Daphne aside and whispered in her ear for a minute. She nodded and stepped to the back of the queue to use the floo.

As they arrived at the Entrance Hall they noticed that Daphne wasn't with them.

Tracy looked around a little wildly. "Where's Daphne?"

"She's doing me a small favour. She'll be here in a few minutes." Harry reassured her.

When Tonks caught up to them with several bags from Madam Malkin's Harry had Winky take the bags upstairs to everyone's rooms and asked everyone to assemble in the Duelling Room. Harry ran upstairs to his bedroom and retrieved the small box with the Hufflepuff Cup. He ran back down stairs and along to the Entrance Hall where he waited in the doorway for Daphne to return.

She flooed in a few minutes later. Bright red, clutching at a small box with a small lump of material on top.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked.

"Yes, no, I don't know yet." Daphne was stumbling over her words and looked very embarrassed.

"What happened?"

"I went to ask my Father about Ginny's fang and because I was in a hurry I knocked and entered without waiting." Daphne paused, trying to re-gather her composure. "I caught them going at it on his desk."

"Them? Your parents?"

"Yeah. His pants were around his ankles and she was sitting on his desk, her robes open and all she had on underneath was some tiny black lingerie that she must have gotten on our shopping trip to the muggle world."

"Daphne? Are you okay?" Harry was concerned.

"Yeah. Just really embarrassed. Give me a minute to get my composure back."

Harry nodded and stood back, giving her space, while she calmed down. A few minutes later she nodded to Harry and followed him to the Duelling Room.

"Sorry about the delay. Things took a little longer than I expected. Bill, if you could take this to the far end of the room." Harry handed the box over to Bill. "If everyone else except Ginny could remain here. Daphne?"

Daphne handed Ginny the lump on the top of the box, which turned out to be a Dragon Hide glove, and motioned for her to put in on. Opening the box she carried she revealed a single large fang.

"Take it Ginny. It's your fang." Daphne urged the younger girl.

Ginny carefully pulled out the fang and looked at Harry for what to do next.

With a slight nod of his head he motioned for her to follow him and he headed for the far end of the room where Bill was waiting.

Bill opened the box at Harry's request and watched as Harry overturned the box spilling the Cup on to the floor.

"Go on Ginny. Stab it. You deserve this." Harry told her.

Ginny stared at the Cup then a look or determination came over her face. "Tom, you bastard. Die." And with that she plunged her fang in to the Cup.

There was no reaction at first but after a second a sickly green black mist started emanating from the Cup accompanied by a faint wailing and a dark energy seemed to fill the room.

"Ginny! Step back! Quickly!" Bill barked out as he moved forward.

Harry reacted quicker, casting the one spell he knew that would fill the room with positive energy. The silver stag bounded between Ginny and the Cup to protect her from it.

Ginny fell back away from the mist as Bill and Harry moved to protect her, the stag moving to stay fully between her and the source of the darkness.

It wasn't necessary. The wailing faded out, the mist dissipated and the feeling of darkness that accompanied it faded into nothing leaving only the warming glow of the Patronus.

"Wow." Hannah was the first person to speak, breaking the silence.

Harry cradled Ginny who was clutching him life a lifeline. Bill, assured that Ginny was safe and being looked after was checking the Cup for lingering magic. Fleur and the Aurors were standing guard over the other girls waiting for Bill to give them the all clear.

"It's clean." Bill said finally.

Harry nodded and relaxed, allowing his Patronus to fade.

"I had heard your Patronus was impressive but that is something else." Tonks complemented Harry as she put her wand away.

Kingsley nodded in agreement. "Do you have any other surprises up your sleeve? I would never have though that a student would be able to cast that spell. Most adult wizards can't."

"Why not?" Luna asked. "It's not that hard." She pulled her wand and cast her own Patronus.

Kingsley's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Does anyone else have a corporeal they wish to share?" He asked what he hoped was a rhetorical question.

He was wrong as Hermione, Susan, Hannah and Padma all pulled their wands and cast their own Patronus. Even Ginny managed to rally and cast a strong mist.

Kingsley looked at the two Slytherins. "You aren't going to join in?"

"Sorry. We never learnt." Tracy replied.

"Where did the rest of you learn?"

"Harry learnt it from Professor Lupin in third year." Hermione answered. "Then he taught us as a part of the DA last year."

"You are going to teach us aren't you?" Daphne asked Harry although it most definitely wasn't a question.

"Sure. Not a problem. We can start later this evening if you want. First, if everyone is ready there is one more place I want to search today." Harry stood and pulled Ginny to her feet.

"Where?" Kingsley asked.

"Just the one place I have no real control over. Headquarters."

"You can't bring just anyone to Headquarters. It isn't safe."

"Why not. It's under the Fidelius charm so very few people can even find it. Plus I own the house. Would you mind telling me who can dictate who I invite into one of my homes?"

"When you put it like that. What do you plan on doing there?"

"Checking it and emptying the library before someone destroys it."

"How are you planning on bring the girls who don't know the secret?"

"We can floo there in pair's can't we?" Harry asked.

"Yes we can." Kingsley looked surprised at the simplicity of his answer.

"So? What are we waiting for?" Harry headed for the door.

The girls looked at each other and started scrambling to follow.

In the Entrance Hall Luna attached herself to Harry for the trip to Grimmauld Place.

Ginny was carrying the box with her fang in it and the dragon hide glove as she partnered with Daphne.

Kingsley went through first with Susan followed by Hestia and Luna. Harry moved through next with Tracy.

They assembled in the lounge at Grimmauld Place. Daphne pulled her wand and cast the detection spells to find a Horcrux.

"I've found one." She called. "It's below us and off the right but it's here."

Harry spun to face her "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Try for yourself."

Harry pulled his wand and cast the spell. "You're right. It's here. It's over there where you said but it's not below us. It's on the same floor."

"Huh?" Daphne was confused.

They both figured it out at the same time a second later. "There's some one here!" They echoed each other.

"Bill, Fleur guard the front door. Tonks, Harry move to the left count to five and approach. Hestia with me, we'll try to get behind them." Kingsley quietly barked his orders. "The rest of you get behind some cover and wait here."

They quickly followed his orders. Harry used his detection charm to track the movement of whoever was carrying the Horcrux.

"They are really close. They must be on the other side of the door." Harry whispered to Tonks.

She nodded. "Move over there where you won't be seen. If I have trouble then hit them hard."

Harry nodded and moved where Tonks indicated and crouched, wand at the ready.

Tonks fell back to give herself room to move and waited until the door opened.

"Halt! Auror! Drop your wand and identify yourself." She commanded.

"That you Tonksie? It's me Dung." Mundungus Fletcher stepped forward carrying a really full bag slung over his shoulder.

"Oh, it's just you." Tonks relaxed but kept her wand at the ready. "What've you got there?"

"Just some stuff I left in storage here." Dung looked a little nervous. "With the ownership of this place in doubt I thought I had better get my stuff out."

"Just your own stuff?" Kingsley asked having snuck up on him from behind.

"Kingsley? What you all doing here?" Dung asked.

"Following orders." Kingsley shot back.

Harry cast the detection spell once last time while he still hadn't been noticed. It was confirmed, the Horcrux was in the bag. He nodded to Tonks.

"Do you mind if we take a look at what you've got there?" Tonks asked.

"Why, it's just stuff. It's not important." Dung started pulling away.

Harry shot off a silent stunner and watched Dung collapse. The bag hit the ground with a massive clatter or metal.

"Sorry but it was taking too long and I didn't want him to see me or any of the others." Harry explained.

Kingsley favoured him with a grin.

Harry stooped and opened the bag and tipped it out on the floor.

The stuff he was storing was a variety of plates, goblets and other miscellaneous items. Most of them bore the markings of the Black family.

Harry was spreading the items out on the floor carefully when the others arrived. Once they were spread out Harry cast the spell once more to find which item he was looking for.

A golden locket, one of the few items without any Black family markings. Instead it bore a stylised 'S' across its face.

"Grab me a towel or something. I'll take it into the kitchen; we'll have more room in there." Harry asked.

Hermione disappeared and returned a moment later with a tea towel.

Using the towel Harry carefully moved the locket into the kitchen and set it down on the table.

Kingsley joined them a minute later. "Dung won't be going anywhere anytime soon." He grinned.

Harry ginned back.

"How do you suppose it got here?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know?" Harry replied.

"Hey, wasn't Kreacher really protective of it. He might know." Ginny piped up.

"Actually, where is he? I expected him to be here already complaining about us." Harry looked around.

"I'll look around. He would have hidden that locket in that place he sleeps right?" Tonks volunteered.

"Yeah. Thanks Tonks."

Ginny placed her box on the table. "So, who gets to destroy this one?"

"I don't know. Do we draw straws?" Tracy suggested.

"Not the worst idea." Susan replied. "Though it should probably go to Hermione. Years of service and all that."

"Years of service?" Hermione asked.

"As Harry's friend." Susan grinned at her.

"Ah, yes, well. Thank you."

Tonks returned with a limping elf grumbling behind her. "I found him. I think Dung got the drop on him."

"What are all you filthy mud..."

"Shut up Kreacher." Harry commanded.

The old disgusting elf shut up. He looked surprised initially but soon took on a sullen expression and slumped, both sulking and glaring at Harry.

"Do you see this locket?" Harry asked.

Kreacher looked on the table. "Master's locket." He made a grab for it but stopped before he could impale himself on Harry's wand.

"How did you get it? I order you to tell me everything. I order you to tell me the truth." Harry commanded.

Kreacher glared and seemed to be trying to fight the command but Harry was Lord Black, head of the family to which he was bound and an incredibly powerful wizard. He had no choice but to obey.

"Dark Lord asked Master Regulus for an elf..." Kreacher told his tale, the locket, the fate of Regulus and the final command.

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "His last order was for you to destroy the locket?" He asked quietly.

Kreacher nodded.

Harry picked up the dragon hide glove and offered it to the old elf. "Put this on."

Looking confused Kreacher obeyed.

Ginny had figured out what was going to happen and opened her box. "The venom in this fang will destroy the locket. You just have to stab it."

"But only the locket." Harry added.

Kreacher stood over the locket brandishing the fang and stabbed it firmly into the centre of the locket.

Again the dark energy and wailing heralded the mist pouring out of the locket. Harry pulled Kreacher away and cast his Patronus to keep the mist away from everyone. The mist dissipated and the kitchen was left in silence. Harry was looking particularly disturbed.

He absently summoned the box for Kreacher to put the fang away and handed it back to Ginny.

"Come on, we need to pack up the library." Harry said, breaking the silence.

"How can Kreacher help?"

Harry looked at the elf in surprise. "No insults?"

"No Master. Master helped Kreacher fulfil Master Regulus last request. Master is Kreacher's Master."

"Well. Firstly, can you take down the portrait of Mrs Black in the hallway? You can keep it but she no longer gives you orders."

"Yes Master. Thank you Master." Kreacher bowed. "Is there anything else?"

"We need trunks or something to pack the library into." Harry said.

"Yes, Master. May Kreacher ask why Master is moving the library?"

"This location is not secure enough. I have a more secure location to work from."

"Kreacher understands. May Kreacher pack the family heirlooms to keep them safe as well?"

"Yes. The Black family has fallen into disrepute. I intend to restore the family name to the glory it deserves."

"What may Kreacher do to help?"

"Cleaning the house properly would be a start. The Black family cannot entertain anyone in this pit."

"Kreacher will begin immediately. Is there anything else?"

"Do not reveal my identity to anyone. I expect you to keep my secrets fully."

"Kreacher will. Kreacher will get to work now."

The elf vanished showing more energy than ever.

"You handled that well." Hermione commented.

"Thanks." Harry replied shortly.

"So that's the third Horcrux destroyed then?" Hannah asked. "Three is an important number in Arithmancy. That could be all of them."

"What is the next number up?" Harry asked.

"Seven. It's a much more significant number as well." Bill answered. "That's why Ginny is such a little powerhouse. Seventh child and all."

"Are you suggesting that he made seven Horcrux's" Hermione asked. "He split his soul seven times? That is hideous. Are you sure?"

"I think so. We have destroyed four Horcrux's." Harry said quietly.

"Four? The diary, Hufflepuffs Cup and the locket?" Susan counted. "What was the fourth?"

"Me." Harry's answer shocked them all into silence. "The dark energy that I was fighting when Malfoy gave me the potion, it had the same feel as the Horcrux's. I wasn't sure after the Cup but the locket removed all doubt. 'I' was a Horcrux. That's why I had a link with him. That's why I had some of his abilities."

"Do you think Dumbledore knows?" Padma asked.

"Possibly. It wouldn't surprise me if he'd figured it out." Harry replied.

"So, when was he going to tell you?" Susan asked.

"When he felt I was ready I assume." Harry replied bitterly. "He told me he was torn between telling me what I needed to know and 'protecting my innocence'. He thinks I can wait until I graduate to deal with Voldemort. Like He's actually going to wait for me to be ready."

"To be fair, Albus has been doing his best to protect you all these years." Kingsley said softly.

"If he was protecting me then tell me why I faced Him directly in one form or another four out of five years at Hogwarts?" Harry turned his intense green eyes on the dark skinned Auror.

"I concede your point." Kingsley backed down.

"To further it, if I had known what was at stake Sirius would still be alive. I was shut so far out of the loop, a loop that revolves around me unfortunately, that I hunted for answers in all the wrong places, to the point that I fell into a trap that was blindly obvious."

"My question is that why did he not beat us to the Ministry?" Luna piped up.

"Huh?" Kingsley turned to face the blonde Ravenclaw.

"We flew to the Ministry on Thestrals. We told Professor Snape a while before left Hogwarts. How long did he wait before told Dumbledore we were missing. And the timing of when they showed up at the Ministry. I have questions." Luna explained.

"I can tell you that we went as soon as we were informed by Dumbledore that you were here. We had minor delays in reaching you because we had to check that we weren't about to run into an ambush." Tonks said in reply.

Hermione groaned. "Didn't you tell me that he arrived just in time to save you from Voldemort when you were protecting the Philosophers' Stone? Professor McGonagall told us in the afternoon that Dumbledore was at the Ministry. We went after the Stone that night."

"And Dumbledore told me that he arrived at the Ministry only to find that had needed to come back again." Harry jumped in. "I remember him saying the he and Hedwig must have crossed in mid-air."

"If it was so urgent that he return what took him so long?" Hermione finished.

"There are a lot of questions about his actions over the years that we need to answer." Ginny commented.

"We have a Pensieve." Daphne interjected. "If we review all the memories we may be able to spot the inconsistencies and start piecing together what the real story is."

"That's good idea." Kingsley said thoughtfully. "I know that Albus likes to keep things close to his chest but when it starts getting people killed." He trailed off shaking his head.

They stood in the kitchen in silence for a minute absorbing the enormity of the implications.

The silence was broken by Kreacher. He walked in carrying a large portrait. "There are trunks in the library for putting the books in. I will pack up the Black family heirlooms that require protecting."

"Thank you Kreacher." Harry replied.

"Who was that? That half-blood upstart?" The portrait screeched.

"Master is good master." Kreacher told the portrait. "Master helped Master Regulus."

The portrait was stunned into silence. "Let me see him Kreacher." She commanded.

Kreacher looked at Harry. Receiving a nod he set the Portrait on the floor leaning against the wall.

"So it is you and a girl now I see." Walburga Black sneered. "And you brought your traitor friends with you. And what do we have here? Some new faces? More blood traitors?"

Daphne drew self up and sneered back. "I am the eldest daughter of Lord Greengrass and I will thank you to address me with respect."

The portrait lifted and eyebrow. "So what is the daughter of Lord Greengrass doing here with this lot?"

"What are my options? The Ministry are imbeciles, Dumbledore is an idealistic fool and if I have to choose between two half-bloods then I will pick the one who will treat me better."

"Two half-bloods? Who is the other?" Walburga was confused. It was the calmest emotion that they had ever seen of her face.

"Didn't you know?" Harry asked. "Voldemort was born Tom Marvolo Riddle. His father was a muggle named Tom Riddle. He told me so himself."

"You lie." The painting sneered.

Harry pulled his wand and began writing in midair. With a swish of his wand the letters rearranged, causing his remember the time in the Chamber where the memory of Tom showed him the same thing.

"It can't be real." Walburga whispered. "It's impossible. He is the Heir of Slytherin."

"He may be, but his father was defiantly a muggle." Harry shrugged.

"Do you think that 'Marvolo' has something to do with his mother's family?" Hermione asked.

"Possibly. It's not a common name, even in the wizarding world." Daphne replied. "And it definitely has the feel of a wizarding name."

"I know it's unlikely to be a muggle name; not an English one anyway." Hermione replied.

"There was a Marvolo Gaunt. That's the only one I know of." Due to her shock Walburga was being uncommonly helpful.

"Where do they live?" Daphne asked.

"Lived. The family died out a few decades ago. I remember that they sold their family manor to pay some debts and ended up in a shack in Little Hangleton."

"And we have a match. The Riddle's lived in Little Hangleton as well." Harry said.

"So we have a new location to search." Kingsley stated.

"Yes." Harry confirmed.

"You'll have to wait. The Cup primarily relied on Gringotts security. The locket was retrieved from behind what sounded like some comprehensive and obscure protections." Bill said. "I wouldn't want to attempt to breach them alone. If we could trust Dumbledore I would want his help."

"If not?" Harry asked.

"Then you and Fleur have to get really good really fast." Bill gave him a very direct look.

"I'll start working through my books tonight." Harry nodded. "When I have a better grounding I'll start practicing creating wards. If you can create some wards for me to practise breaking?"

"For both you and Fleur. When you get better at warding, maybe you can try and challenge me." Bill replied with a grin.

"We'd better get started. Thank you for your assistance Lady Black." Harry gave her a slight bow.

"You're welcome Lord Black." The portrait bowed back deeply. "I hope you overcome your unfortunate affliction."

"So do I. Good day."

Kreacher picked up the portrait and left.

"We'd better get the library packed up." Harry led the way.

With them all working together it didn't take too long to pack up all the books. Kreacher showed up part way through the packing and cut the time to pack the rest in half.

Harry summoned Dobby and Winky to shift the packed trunks to Hermione place. When they had vanished Harry turned to Kreacher.

"I would invite you as well but I am aware that you would prefer not to associate with muggles and muggle-born." Harry spoke softly.

"Master understands Kreacher. Kreacher will stay in his home and look after it for Master." Kreacher bowed.

"Thank you. If you could clean this place up and make it look a little less dark and gloomy." Harry smiled slightly. "Don't tell anyone what happened here today. The less who know the better."

"Kreacher shall obey. Kreacher shall keep Master's secrets." Kreacher vanished.

They returned to Hermione's home and collapsed on the couches in the Entrance Hall.

"That went surprisingly well." Hermione commented. "Mrs Black and Kreacher turned around so fast I could believe it."

"I noticed that. Kreacher is easy enough to understand. Having completed his last master's dying orders, it put him in a much better frame of mind. It's Mrs Black I don't understand."

"She was given a reasonable argument to change her mind." Daphne said.

"Come again?" Ginny was confused.

"Faced with the reality she know about the Ministry and Dumbledore, opinions that are widely held amongst the darker pure-blood families, and the sudden truth about you-know-who she was probably so shocking she didn't realise what she was saying. You may find her personality returned to normal the next time you visit." Daphne explained.

"What happened to that guy you stunned?" Hannah asked.

"Dung!" Kingsley started. "We left him stunned and tied up."

"Woops." Tonks giggled.

Kingsley grinned. "I'll sort him out when we finish here."

"Is there anything else to discuss?" Harry asked everyone.

"I don't think so why?" Susan answered.

"Because we have a lot of work to do and not much time to do it in."

"True. We should get started."

"Okay. Meeting adjourned." Harry clapped his hand together. "This was a very successful day."

Hey all stood and moved off. Bill, Fleur, Kingsley and Hestia all said their farewells and headed for the floo. The girls all headed upstairs to start unpacking the books. Tonks pulled Harry aside.

"Do we have time for the ceremony now? Mum would like to officially rejoin the family."

Harry thought for a moment. "Give me an hour. We'll do it then."

"Okay. I'll see you then."

"Later Tonks." Harry waved to the Auror as she left through the floo.

Harry went up stair and looked in the library where the girls were already unpacking and trying not to argue about how they should be organised. They had already commandeered both Dobby and Winky to help.

"Are you all okay here? I have a few things to sort out in my room."

"We're fine here. The hard part is keeping Hermione from ordering everyone around." Ginny grinned.

"I'm sure you have some things you need to do alone." Padma said, smiling at him softly. "You go do what you have to. We'll manage here."

"Even if we have to stun Hermione." Ginny grinned.

Harry laughed and left. Back in his own room he looked over the trunks from his parents vaults. He pulled his wand and moved the trunks into his study. The trunk of dark items went in the far corner, unopened. It was the trunk full of his family's books that he opened first. The family books went on the bookshelf there in the study. The few he felt were not so personal to the family he put on one side to take to the other library.

The next trunk to get unpacked was from his parents study. It was hard for Harry to see the stacks of parchment and know he couldn't look them over. They had a shelf to themselves.

The trunks full of kitchen and dining things went to the side to be moved to the living room. That left the trunks full of personal items. He opened the trunks one by one and found himself shutting them. He wasn't ready to handle what he was seeing let alone actually deal with it.

He sat staring at the trunks feeling his turbulent emotions boil inside of him. He could feel the air around him start to charge. He realised that he wasn't going to be able to control what was happening. He had to find a safe place to release them.

The World Room. Harry was on his feet and running. His magic responded to his unconscious needs and the new Firebolt he had just bought from himself that was still wrapped and sitting with the other near the door of his room tore itself free of it wrapping and leapt into his arms.

Harry sprinted down the hallway and down the stairs. Seconds later he was entering the World Room. His magic slammed and sealed the door after him as he run up the stairs of the Club House to the viewing platform. Leaping off the edge he pulled the broom under himself and took to the air.

He wanted to break things. He needed to vent on something. The muggle area was closest and seconds later he was landing in the middle of the residential area.

Now he could let go. And let go he did. He watched the air swirl around him faster and faster until it was so distorted that it blocked his vision. He pushed harder at it and the wind started howling.

He absently noticed the edge of the wind encircling him a few feet away. Focusing he tried to pull it closer and grinned as it slowly closed in on him until it stopped just out of reach. He started playing with it; moving it in and out all the while pushing the wind to grow.

The girls unpacking the books in the library paused as they noticed the two house-elves stop and look around in concern.

"What is it?" Ginny asked.

"House is shaking. Shaking coming from World Room." Dobby answered.

"Master Harry ran past a minute ago. Could he be in there?" Winky asked.

It only took a second for the girls to come to the same conclusion. Harry may be in danger.

They raced down to the World Room and struggled against the door but could open it. Every spell they could think to throw at it was repelled by the magic Harry had placed on it. Dobby was right they realised. The vibrations were more noticeable here.

"Dobby, can you get past the door?" Hermione asked.

Dobby concentrated and vanished only to return less than a second later.

"We wait out here." The elf looked terrified. "Too dangerous to go in. Master Harry angry, but not in danger."

"If Harry isn't in danger then how can it be too dangerous for us to go it?" Hannah asked sternly.

"Master Harry is making it dangerous for everyone else." Dobby replied.

"Oh." Hannah replied faintly.

"So it's Harry shaking everything. Impressive!" Susan said, staring at the door.

"It will be less impressive if he kills himself due to expending too much energy." Tracy shot a brief glare at Susan.

"I know that." Susan glared back. "But it is impressive to see just how powerful Harry is."

"Scary more like." Padma said. "You know how big that room is and how heavily warded it is. For his power to be affecting the rest of the extension this way..." She trailed off, not knowing how to finish her statement.

"I knew he was powerful but this is on a whole new scale." Hermione said.

"What signs did he show?" Daphne asked. "He doesn't seem to do that well in class."

"He learnt the Patronus Charm in third year and used it to drive away several dozen Dementors. All that were at Hogwarts that year in fact. "

"There were a hundred Dementors assigned to Hogwarts that year." Susan said. "I know because Aunty ranted about it a few times after Fudge went over her head and sent them there."

"Aren't trained Auror's only able to hand a couple at once?" Tracy asked.

"Some can handle as many a half a dozen, but they are rare." Susan answered.

"So Harry is what, twenty times more powerful than the more powerful wizards around?" Padma threw out the question.

"Or has an incredible affinity for light magic." Daphne answered. "He is very powerful though. I know that from when he helped with the basilisk."

"Yes, we discussed that then."

"We did? I don't remember."

"You and Hannah were still busy with the basilisk. It was just before you took your first break."

"Okay." Daphne shrugged.

"Dobby, Winky, can you start trying to get this door open. If we can open it immediately then we will get to Harry quicker once it's safe." Hermione asked the two elves.

The elves nodded and got to work.

They paused part way through.

"Master Harry has stopped." Dobby explained to the girls as they returned to work.

It was another five minutes of hard work before the two elves managed to open the door.

Ginny was the first through and came to a sudden stop as she saw the damage.

"Stop everyone. Just stop before we kill ourselves." Ginny's arms were outstretched blocking the other girls.

"What is it Ginny?" Hermione asked as the girls stopped jostling against each other.

"This place is really badly damaged. There are holes in the floor and walls."

"This building is supposed to be heavily warded. How did it get so badly damaged?" Daphne asked.

"I think we'll find out." Ginny replied. "Dobby, Winky can you make sure that this building is stable."

"Yes Miss Ginny." They replied in unison and got to work.

A couple of minutes later Winky stopped in front of them. "If you stay within the red lines you can go upstairs."

"Thank you." The girls replied and, in single file, made their way to the upper balcony.

Dust still obscured mush of the landscape but it was clearing revealing the level of destruction Harry had wrought.

"The centre point seems to be over that way." Hermione pointed after studying the damage.

"That's the muggle area." Tracy said after a moment's thought. "How do we get there? The ground looks too torn up to walk."

"Winky?" Daphne called. "We need a fast way of travelling to Harry."

Winky nodded and vanished. She returned a moment later with a bundle of wrapped brooms.

"Master Harry got these for his companions." Winky explained as she passed them out. "I hope he is not angry with me for spoiling his surprise but his bonded need to get to him quickly."

The girls quickly unwrapped their brooms. Susan, Ginny and Daphne gasped as they saw the distinctive polished handles of the Firebolt. Luna simply jumped on her broom and launched. Her action stirred the others into action. All the girls took to the sky. Hermione was a little hesitant but her concern for Harry overrode her fear and she pushed herself to keep up with Hannah, Padma and Tracy.

Ginny, Susan and Daphne quickly left the others behind on their faster brooms as they pushed to catch up to Luna.

They were only seconds behind Luna when they saw her dive. Looking ahead they saw a small circle of undamaged tarmac from what was once a road going through the muggle suburban street. Lying on it was a white shape. Harry.

Luna was already trying to roll him on his back when the others hit the ground to help. He was still breathing and appeared to be unharmed but was unconscious. A Firebolt lay next to him, somehow having escaped the destruction that surrounded them along with the small circle of road.

"Wake up Harry." Ginny pleaded, shaking him. "Please wake up."

"Let me through." Tracy commanded, her wand already out. The others had arrived.

She cast several diagnostics spells and relaxed. "He's okay. He's just exhausted himself."

"Is there any way to wake him?" Ginny asked.

"No. Not until he has recovered some energy as least." Tracy shook her head.

"What about the bond?" Luna looked up a Tracy from where she was crouched next to Harry.

"How do you mean?"

"Susan said that we may be able to share energy through the bond. Can we give him some of ours?"

They looked at Susan.

"We can try." She shrugged. "I don't know how it would work though."

"We could try focusing on Harry and the bond and trying to push some of our magic though it to him." Luna suggested.

"That sounds logical to me." Hermione said.

"Okay. Shall we try it?" Daphne asked.

Her question came a little late. Ginny and Luna had both started trying to push their energy to Harry.

"Don't push all of your energy. If we all give him some it will be enough. There is no point in risking our own lives." Tracy instructed.

"He would never forgive himself if he woke up and one of us was hurt because of this." Hermione added.

Ginny and Luna both nodded distractedly.

Luna suddenly gasped and collapsed onto her hands and knees, panting heavily.

Tracy immediately cast a diagnostics spell on her. "You're alright. You've just lost about a half of your magical energy though."

"That explains why I feel wasted." Luna said, struggling to get her breathing under control.

"How'd you do it?" Ginny asked.

"You need to focus on your feelings towards him as well as him and the bond."

Ginny nodded, refocusing on her task.

A minute later she gasped as well, also out of breath. "That really takes it out of you."

"Any pointers?" Hermione asked as she sat down.

"Sitting down is a good idea." Ginny grinned tiredly. "It's more emotional than logical. You need to focus on your strongest positive emotion towards Harry. Then try to push your magic to him through the bond."

Hermione nodded and began focusing. The other girls sat and joined her in concentration.

Hermione was the first to get a result followed a couple of minutes later by Daphne. Susan followed a minute later then Padma and Hannah. Tracy was last by about five minutes.

"Harry's colour looks better." Ginny said.

"Good." Tracy panted. "Give me a couple of minutes to get my breath back and I'll check everyone out."

Ginny nodded absently. "I had hoped that he would have woken up if he was just tired."

"We gave him a good amount with all of us donated but he would have expended a huge amount of energy before. We have helped but he needs rest." Tracy answered.

Ginny nodded and stroked Harry's forehead.

A little later Tracy stood. "Okay, let's see how everyone is."

After scanning everyone she shook her head. "We all gave about the same amount energy to him. About a half of our reserves."

"That explains why I want an early night tonight." Daphne commented.

Tracy poked her tongue out at her friend before continuing. "Harry is probably at about a tenth of his power."

"A tenth?" Padma exclaimed. "You are telling me that he is over five times as powerful as all of us combined?"

"Apparently." Tracy shrugged.

"Should we try waking him?" Hermione asked.

"You can try. He should wake up." Tracy replied after a moment's thought. "It won't hurt him in any case."

Hermione nodded and tried to enervate him.

Harry groaned and opened his eyes. "My head hurts."

"You're lucky that's all that hurts." Tracy scolded him. "You nearly burnt yourself out."

"Sorry. I just had a few emotions that I had to get off my chest."

"Next time talk to us. Don't blow up the room."Ginny glared at him.

"Blow up the room?" Harry struggled a bit but managed to sit up and look around. "Uh. Woops."

Susan sniggered. "He destroys half the World Room and what does he say? Woops."

This set the other girls laughing. The release of emotion from all their previous worrying bursting out of them.

"Come on Harry let's get you back to your room." Ginny and Luna pulled Harry to his feet.

Harry wobbled a bit but Ginny and Luna hadn't let go of him and made sure he kept his balance.

"So, how do we get back?" Harry looked around. "I think I had a broom here somewhere."

Susan waved it. "You are in no condition to use it. Ginny, do you think you could double with him and keep him from falling?"

Ginny nodded, picked up her broom and mounted it. "Get on behind me Harry. And hold on tight."

Harry nodded tiredly. Getting on the broom he wrapped his arms around his waist and rested his head on her back. Ginny gently lifted off. With Luna and Daphne close on either side the group slowly floated just above the wasted landscape.

The dust had been settling and the damage was much more visible. Debris from the muggle area were scattered as far as they could see. None of the buildings in the muggle area were undamaged. Those buildings closest were completely demolished.

"Quite the mess you made." Daphne commented.

"We should make you clean it up." Hermione scolded lightly.

"Can I leave it until tomorrow?" Harry asked.

"I suppose so."

As they closed in on the Club House they began to see how much damaged it suffered.

"I thought that the Club House was heavily warded against damage?" Hannah said looking the ruined building over.

"It is." Harry answered. He looked over Ginny shoulder and stared. "It was anyway. I'm going to have to tell Lictand that his protections here were substandard."

Ginny carefully floated though the shattered window and up to the open door. She carefully left the room began navigating her way through the corridors and up the stairs, all the way to Harry's bedroom.

Harry slid off the broom and onto the bed. The others had followed on foot and helped Harry get comfortable.

"How are you feeling?" Ginny asked.

"I'm fine. Just very tired." Harry replied.

"You are to take it easy for the rest of the evening." Tracy stated firmly. "You are to have a large, high energy meal and go to bed straight afterwards. Healers orders."

"Yes Ma'am." Harry saluted.

"He still has Tonks coming in a little bit." Hermione said. "Can you whip up a pepper-up potion quickly?"

Tracy nodded. "Yes. Just this once though. He shouldn't use them too often."

Tracy left, heading for the potions lab.

Harry sighed. "We need to contact Gringotts. The Club House has to be repaired and re-warded and the needs to be room checked for damage."

"We can send them an owl." Hermione assured him.

"We can do better than that." Harry grinned. "Dobby?"

"Yes Master Harry?" Dobby appeared.

"Could you go to Gringotts and tell Lictand that I need to speak to him when he has some time. I have just found that the World Room doesn't meet its requirements."

"At once Master Harry." Dobby vanished again.

"I had better get down stairs." Harry struggled to stand. "I am probably about to receive a visit from a rather irate goblin."

"You need to rest." Ginny tried to stop him.

"I'm fine. I'll rest later." Harry gently pushed her hands away.

"Fine but you stay with me the entire time." Ginny dictated. "Someone has to make sure you don't collapse."

Harry grinned and accepted her help out of bed.

It was a slow trip downstairs. When they reached the World Room, Ginny called Dobby to conjure a chair in the hallway opposite the World Room door and pushed Harry down into it.

"Stay there." Ginny ordered.

"I feel like a pet." Harry commented as he shifted in the chair to get comfortable.

Ginny patted him on the head. "Who's a good boy?"

Harry knocked her hand away and glared at her while she giggled at him.

They chatted for a few minutes until they heard the floo activate. Seconds later the door to the Entrance Hall slammed open and, as Harry predicted, an irate goblin stormed down the hallway.

"What do you mean 'It doesn't meet its requirements'?" Lictand shouted. "That room is a work of perfection. Nothing is ever good enough for you wizards."

Harry merely gestured towards the World Room. As Lictand reached where Harry was sitting he glared at him a looked into the room. He turned back to Harry and froze. Turning back he stepped fully into the room to look around.

"What did you do?" Lictand's voice barely reached Harry.

"I had a few emotions I had to burn off."

A few emotions to burn off?" Lictand asked in surprise. "You practically destroyed the room. My masterpiece."

"Sorry. I was just testing my limits. I didn't realise they'd be beyond the room's limits." Harry apologised.

"No. Don't apologise." Lictand sighed. "It was my mistake. I underestimated your abilities. A mistake I will try not to repeat. I need bring some people in to examine the room and survey the damage, once we know that we can plan what to do next."

Harry nodded. "I'll leave you to it then. Do you know how long it'll take?"

"It depends on how much damage was done. The room itself appears to be intact so you should have the room back by then end of tomorrow. I'll know more later."

"Okay. I'll see you then." Harry struggled to stand.

"Here Harry." Ginny caught him and aided him into the nearby lounge.

Sitting him on a long couch she sat down next to him a gently pull him down until he was lying on the couch with his head on her lap.

"Rest Harry. Tonks will be here soon." She gently stroked his hair while he drifted off.

The other girls settled in the other chairs.

"So, what do you suppose actually happened in there?" Susan asked as she watched Harry's sleeping form.

"I would guess it has something to do with the martial arts lessons he's been taking." Hermione answered.

"Martial arts?" Hannah asked.

"It's a muggle form of self-defence that has a wide variety of styles, mostly hand-to-hand combat but some include weapons." Hermione explained.

"And just what do muggle fighting styles have to with what happened?" Susan brought the conversation back to her original question.

"They try to teach you how to focus your internal energies. I don't know much about them but Harry was able to start a wind blowing while practicing some of the moves. A very strong wind." Hermione paused a moment. "I would take a guess and say that he focused that energy to the limit of his ability and created a tornado."

"Wow. Imagine if he did that to some of you-know-who's Death Eaters?"

"That's a scary thought. I just hope that we don't get caught up in it."

"Do you think we could learn how to do that?" Daphne asked.

"I don't know." Hermione replied. "We can ask him to show us a few moves and see if we get results. If nothing else it is supposed to be relaxing and help the mind to focus."

"You know, at the rate we're going, we'll learn more over this summer break then we have over the previous school year." Padma commented thoughtfully.

"Just the last year?" Hannah asked. "I'm thinking all the previous years."

They laughed quietly at that.

!HPEaSE!

Tonks and her mother stepped though the floo and into the Entrance Hall and were greeted by a gruff voice.

"Excuse us, can you move out of the way?"

Tonks looked around and saw several goblins waiting to use the floo. Andromeda pulled her daughter aside and let them pass.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know." Tonks shrugged to her mother. "I thought that he had finished everything here. Something must have happened."

They moved into the corridor and saw a goblin directing traffic in and out of the World Room.

"Excuse me, do you know where Harry is?" Tonks called to him.

"I believe Master Warrior Potter is in the lounge." The goblin pointed to the door next to them.

"Thank you." Tonks knocked on the indicated door.

The door opened to reveal Hermione. Tonks opened her mouth to greet her and was immediately shushed. Hermione gestured for them to come in.

"Sorry but Harry needs to rest." Hermione indicated the young wizard sprawled out on a couch, still using Ginny's lap as a pillow. "He's had a rough day."

"What happened?" Tonks asked. "And what's with all the goblins? I thought they had finished."

"Harry sort of destroyed the World Room." Hermione explained. "The goblins are here to check it and do some repairs."

"I'm guessing he burnt himself out as well." Tonks looked at the sleeping wizard.

"Yeah. We have an idea about how powerful he is." Tracy said.

"Oh?"

"About five times as powerful as all of us combined." Padma answered.

"Whoa." Tonks replied in surprise. "Remind me not to get on his bad side."

"Something we should all remember." Tracy replied.

"What do we do while we wait?" Andromeda asked.

"We have a few questions for you, if you don't mind, regarding your sister Narcissa." Tracy answered.

"Oh? What do you want to know?"

"Harry said that you mentioned that if we can get her loyalty she could be an ally."

"True. You want to know how to go about it." Andromeda stated.

"We want to try."

Andromeda nodded. "Where do you want to start?"

"You lot talk. I want to see what Harry did to the World Room." Tonks stood and left.

!HPEaSE!

Harry groaned and pushed at the insistent had that was gently shaking his shoulder.

"Come on Harry. You need to wake up." Ginny persuaded him and dodged his hand to keep shaking him.

Harry groaned again but started trying to sit up.

"Ouch." Ginny complained as one of his hand pushed painfully against her leg.

"Sorry Ginny." Harry apologised. "Is Tonks here yet?"

"We're here Harry." Tonks answered him. "You did a real number on the World Room."

"Here, Harry." Tracy passed him a potion. "Drink it all."

Harry looked the potion bottle over then sighed, took it and downed as quickly as possible. He shut his eyes and shuddered as steam poured from his ears.

He shook himself and looked more awake. "Alright. You wanted a little rejoining ceremony."

"Yes Lord Black. I and my daughter wish to join the Black family. I was cast out for choosing a husband that the Lord at the time disapproved of. I am hoping you will reconsider the banishment and allow us to swear or fealty to you." Andromeda knelt before him, pulling Tonks down next to her, and spoke very formally.

Harry was about to tell her to stand when he saw Daphne gesturing for him to take it seriously and play along.

Harry stood and caught Ginny's out stretched hand to balance himself. "Madam Tonks, I have heard your plea. Why do you wish to rejoin the family?"

"I was born a Black. While there were many policies of that Lord I disagreed with I was proud to be a Black. I believe that you will allow the Black family to reach a greatness beyond that which was achieved by any previous Lord. I wish to be a part of that, to assist in achieving that goal. I wish for my daughter to know the glory and honour that is the Ancient and Noble house of Black."

"And what roles do you see for yourself and your daughter?" Harry questioned taking his cue from Daphne's silent mouthing.

"My daughter is an Auror and will be an asset for defending the family. My skills lie in the legal and political arena's and will be at your disposal."

"I believe you will both be an asset to the family and accept you back into the fold." Harry hesitantly followed Daphne's lead. "I formally reinstate you, Andromeda Tonks-Black, and you, Nymphadora Tonks-Black, back into the Ancient and most Noble House of Black."

She straightened. "I, Andromeda Tonks Black, do hereby swear my Oath of Fealty to you Harry James Potter-Black, Lord Black, and offer myself and my services to you until death takes me."

Andromeda gestured firmly for her daughter to follow her lead.

"I, Nymphadora Tonks Black, do hereby swear my Oath of Fealty to you Harry James Potter-Black, Lord Black, and offer myself and my services to you until death takes me."

Harry reached down and offered Andromeda his hands. She took them and he helped her stand and gently kissed her cheek. "Welcome home cousin."

Andromeda smiled happily. "Thank you My Lord. It is good to be home. I believe you know my daughter already."

"Yes. Quite the treat to know she is." Harry grinned.

"She needs to learn a few manners but she is a good girl and I am proud of her." Andromeda smiled.

Harry offered his hands to Tonks. "Welcome to you as well cousin."

"Thank you My Lord. It is good to be home." Tonks followed her mother lead.

Harry paused in a slightly uncomfortable and lent forward and whispered to Andromeda. "Is that it or is there something else I need to do?"

Andromeda laughed. "That's everything. You did very well. I believe that you have never done anything like that before."

"No. I know very little about pure-blood traditions. If Daphne hadn't been telling me what to do this would have gone very badly."

Andromeda looked round to see the Slytherin girl trying to look innocent. With a polite nod to the girl she turned back to Harry.

"Have you received no instructions on how to be a Head of Family?"

"No. I don't have anyone who could have taught me." Harry shrugged.

"Professor Dumbledore?"

"No, he hasn't taught me a thing. He seems intent on me 'enjoying my childhood'. Like that's possible with Voldemort breathing down my neck."

"He hasn't even introduced you to your responsibilities as Lord Potter?"

"No. Nor did he give me any knowledge on my family. The only thing of my parents he had given me is a family heirloom that my father had lent him before he died."

"When you want to start you instructions?"

"Not for a little bit yet. I have to deal with Voldemort first. I would like you to act as my proxy for the Black family though."

"It would be my honour. Would you like me to draw up the document for you to sign?"

"Please, I wouldn't know where to start."

"We will have to fix that."

"I would appreciate that." Harry grinned at her. "If you could include the Malfoy and Lestrange families as well, without names. We can add them later when we know who to pick."

"Certainly." Andromeda nodded.

"Great. I'm glad you're all happy." Ginny interrupted. "Now Harry, sit down before you fall."

Harry sat.

"Do you wish to remain where you are currently living or move in to a Black family home?" Harry asked.

"You wish us to move? Why?" Andromeda asked in surprise.

"I've had the wards around all the properties I own redone by Gringotts. You may find one of them safer."

"I'll think about it. I've taken advantage of your Warding Fund so I do not believe that I am in immediate danger."

"Okay. If you feel you are in any danger, please, come here as soon as you can." Harry insisted.

"Thank you. I will." Andromeda bowed to him slightly.

"Is there anything else?" Andromeda asked. "You look like you are about to pass out."

Harry grinned tiredly. "Not quite. I'll let you go, I'm sure that you have things to do."

"Indeed. You must come around for dinner one evening. You and all your friends. I'll see you soon. Come on Nymphadora. Let the man get some rest." Andromeda waved her daughter to go ahead of her.

"Later Harry, girls." Tonks waved and left, followed by her mother.

"We should probably be going as well." Susan stood. "It's getting late."

"It is." Tracy stood as well. "I expect the both of you to ensure that Harry gets some rest." She directed Hermione and Ginny firmly.

"Yes, Madam Davis." Ginny replied.

"Thank you. I will probably see you tomorrow. Coming Daph?" Tracy turned to her house mate.

"Yes. See you tomorrow." The two Slytherins left.

"I had better go too." Hannah stood. "I'll just check on the animagus potion first."

"We'll wait for you." Padma said.

"I should go. My dad will be home, or at least he should be." Hermione said.

"I'll come with you." Harry tried to stand again.

"Is this what you call resting Harry?" Ginny caught him and made sure he kept his balance.

"I'll rest in the other lounge." Harry tried to move, losing his balance again. "I just need a little help to get there."

Luna caught his other side. "Let's get him there Ginny. He'll just whine if we don't."

"I don't whine." Harry countered.

"Yes you do." Ginny replied.

"But don't worry, we still love you." Luna finished.

Hannah returned from the potion lab. "It's simmering nicely. It should be ready tomorrow afternoon."

"Great. I can't wait to see what sort of forms we have." Harry grinned. "Thanks for doing that. You and Tracy are doing really well."

"Don't mention it. It's quite a fun potion to make."

"How many doses are there?" Hermione asked.

"Nine. Enough for all of us."

"We may need to make some more in the future." Hermione explained. "I think Neville will join us and Ron will, if he gets over his issue with Slytherins. There may be other worthy allies as well."

"If we need more we can make more" Hannah shrugged.

"I know. I just want to help next time." Hermione said.

"And the truth comes out." Harry faux whispered to Ginny and Luna.

Everyone started giggling after that as Hermione huffed.

"We'll see you tomorrow?" Harry asked as they reached the Entrance Hall.

"Probably. See you later." The Ravenclaw and the two Hufflepuff disappeared through the floo.

"Come on. Let's get you in a chair before you collapse." Ginny and Luna guided Harry through into the muggle home and into the lounge.

"What did he do this time?" Daniel Granger asked his daughter after having seen Harry being guided on to a couch by the two forth year students.

"He just destroyed the World Room." Hermione replied as she gave her dad a hug.

"He destroyed the World Room?" Daniel looked at Harry in shock.

"I didn't destroy it." Harry replied tiredly. "I just damaged it."

"Damaged it a lot. The muggle area is destroyed, the Club House was in danger of collapsing and Lictand's people are having to check the room itself to see if it took any damage." Hermione said.

"So I don't get a round or golf this evening?" Daniel tried not to grin as he pushed his daughter's buttons.

"Golf? Golf!?" Hermione exploded. "Harry could have seriously injured himself and you are moaning about missing out on a round of golf!"

"Actually, however indirectly, he has raised a good point." Harry interrupted her rant.

"Oh? And what point would that be?" Hermione stood in front of him, hands on her hips glaring fiercely.

"What if he had been in there playing golf when I cut loose? Him or anyone one else?"

Hermione gasped and paled at the implication. "You're right. Anyone in there would have been killed by the flying debris."

"I'm sure you will come up with an answer. Once you calm down." Harry grinned.

"What is all the shouting about?" Emily entered the room. "Hello Harry, Ginny, Luna. I like the new looks, but perhaps they don't work for you quite as well as your natural colours."

"True." Ginny agreed. "Hermione lucked out and looks really good with her new look. It was nice to have a change though. Hermione could you change us back?"

Hermione nodded and pulled her wand. Seconds later her three friends had their natural hair colours restored.

"So what were you shouting about?" Emily asked Hermione.

"Just dad making inappropriate comments again."

"You know he only does it to get a rise out of you?"

"Yes but it was more inappropriate than normal, even if he did bring forth a good point."

"Which was?"

Harry took over the story. "I had to burn of some emotions and in the process destroyed a significant portion of the World Room, including the Club House which should have been able to withstand the assault. The concern he brought to my attention was what would have happened if someone else had been in the room when I cut loose."

"Oh." Emily looked like she might faint.

Her husband pulled her into his lap.

"You needn't worry." Harry tried to reassure her. "I'm sure Hermione will have a solution devised and implemented before the room is finished tomorrow."

"Shut up Harry." Hermione tried to glare but was blushing slightly.

Emily slowly regained her composure and shook herself. "I came in here to tell you that dinner was ready. I made extra in case there would be other people for dinner."

"It's just Luna joining us." Hermione replied.

"That's alright. The leftovers will freeze. You can have some lunches out of them." Emily rose out of her husband's lap and left the room. "Hermione, set the table please."

Dinner was an unusual affair. Harry was struggling to eat and both Ginny and Hermione, sitting on either side of him, were making sure he ate properly and didn't pass out into his food. This left Luna chatting happily with Emily and Daniel, about dentistry of all things.

After dinner Hermione and Ginny were nearly carrying Harry back to bed.

"This is becoming a habit." Ginny commented.

"It will probably keep happening until Harry comes to terms with his past, or at least gets is emotions under control." Hermione replied.

"He's also probably struggling with the fact that he's allowed to feel and express these emotions without getting in trouble." Luna added from the rear. "He'll settle down in time. He's lucky that he has the World Room to let loose in."

"Impressive." Hermione glanced back at Luna. "I think you may be right."

Lictand popped out of the World Room as they passed. "Are you awake enough to focus Harry?"

"Don't know." Harry replied. "If not then at least these three are, they can fill me in tomorrow."

"Very well. The Room itself survived. It took some damage but is repairable. I will have it reinforced so that it should be able to take twice as much next time. The Club House will be repaired overnight and we will re-ward it to a higher level. That will cover the damage that should not have happened. The Room's enchantments and your house-elves will be able to repair the rest of the damage by the end of the week." Lictand reported.

"Thank you. It should survive my next temper tantrum them." Harry commented.

"Yes it should." Lictand grinned. "I'll let you get some rest and we will try to stay out of your way as much as possible. Sleep well."

Harry nodded in reply and continued his way to his bedroom.

Ginny and Hermione were now quite practiced at putting Harry to bed and had his teeth cleaned, clothing adjusted and put to bed in short order.

Luna was watching from a short distance away. She could tell that her friends knew what they were doing and didn't want to get in the way.

"Will he be okay on his own tonight?" She asked once the two Gryffindor girls had finished with Harry.

"He should be but if you want to get your pillow and sheets and bundle up on the bed feel free." Hermione said. "He wakes up early though, just so you know."

"I can cope. I think I'll turn in now as well. It's been a very long day."

"That's a good idea." Ginny agreed.

"I'll work on the library a little more." Hermione said. "Just an hour, it's been a long day."

"Just one hour?" Ginny teased.

"Yes. Just one hour. I'll even set an alarm to make sure."

"Okay. I'll see you in the morning." Ginny left followed by Luna.

Hermione took one last look at Harry before turning off the light and shutting the door.

"Good night Harry. Sweet dreams."


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out.

I would also like to thank everyone who reviewed and those who sent me messages. I've been getting a lot of positive responses and feedback and I really appreciate it.

A few people have given made a few requests and while I have considered them I'm not planning on changing how I'm going to proceed so some people will be happy, others disappointed and another group somewhere in the middle. Of course, this was probably going to happen anyway.

I just hope that you all accept how I want the story to go and that you all keep enjoying it.

Thank you.

**Chapter 14**

The day began in what would become the norm for Harry. The only oddity was the blonde Ravenclaw bundled next to him, still asleep. Apparently she was a deep enough sleeper that the alarm didn't wake her.

Tonks was down in the Entrance Hall, yawning at the early hour, when Harry passed through. No words were spoken. They weren't needed. Tonks's glare told Harry everything he needed to know about how unhappy she was at the early hour. Harry's cheeky grin told her that he didn't care.

Harry enjoyed the short run to the school where he took his martial arts lessons. His muscles were freer and the crisp morning air was revitalising.

"Morning Harry." John greeted his young student.

"Morning Sensei."

"Did you manage to get any additional practice in last night?"

"No. It was a rather full day. I did manage to find out just how far I could push my abilities though."

"Oh? Care to share?"

"My friends were concerned that they might get blown away when they watched me practice last week. They had every reason to be concerned."

"That's rather general, could you elaborate?"

"Just call me the 'Walking Tornado'." Harry replied dryly.

"'Walking Tornado'? Can you really go that far?"

"Hope you never have to find out. What's the plan for today?"

"More of the same. Standard training followed by more practicing with you special ability. I've been doing some research about the legendary martial artists from the old Asian stories trying to come up with ways of helping you control your ability and come up with ways you could learn to use it."

"That sounds good. I can do far too much damage with it. I need to learn control." Harry nodded.

"You've got the right idea and I'll help as much as I can." John sighed. "As incredible as this is and as much as I want to help, I've never done this before. No one I know of has. I really am making it up as I go."

"Don't worry. We'll work something out." Harry reassured him.

"Thanks. Now, let's get down to business."

The lesson was spent practicing old moves, working on new moves and even a little sparring. The end of the lesson was spent working on Harry's ability, again trying to create punches from the air.

John watched Harry's performance and shook his head. "Let's call it a day. You're improving at this but not as quickly as I would have expected given your rate of progression in other areas."

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "This isn't going as well as I'd hoped either. Am I doing something wrong or am I just not as good at this?"

"I don't know. We're both working blind here, but I think it's more than likely we are doing it the wrong way. The reality is that we know nothing about this; you could be making astounding progress for all we know." John paused. "Let's think on it and see if we can come up with some other options for how to do this."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow" Harry waved and headed off.

Harry took a much longer route back to Hermione's, and now his, home. He knew he still needed to build his stamina and running in the fresh air was invigorating.

Early on during his run home he ducked down an alleyway and stopped, checking that there was no one else around.

"Tonks?" He called quietly.

"Wotcha Harry." The young Auror appeared out from under the Invisibility Cloak.

"Your opinion?"

"Impressive." Tonks grinned at him. "It's good to see you taking your training so seriously. Should you be using your magic in front of a muggle though?"

"He doesn't think its magic. I'm not sure it really counts as magic either." Harry grinned. "Apparently there are legends of muggle martial arts experts who could do that sort of thing. They could focus their body's energy and use it directly or something like that." Harry finished with a shrug.

"It looked pretty cool though. When are you going to start using it in our duels?"

"I don't know. Not for a while yet. I want to learn how to do each different set of skills really well before combining them."

Tonks nodded. "The better you are at them individually then the better you will be once you combine them. Rather more of a Slytherin way of thinking isn't it." She teased him.

"It was the Sorting Hat's preferred choice." Harry paused at a memory. "It still thinks I should have gone there."

"There's a surprise." Tonks's eyebrows shot towards her hairline.

"It's not something I've made a lot of noise about."

"Can't say I blame you. I suppose you want me to keep your lessons quiet?"

"Yes please. Even from Kingsley." Harry grinned suddenly. "I want to see his reaction when I finally begin using them against him."

Tonks laughed. "Please let me be there when you do. That'll be a memorable day. When do start mixing your talents I'd love to see you go up against Moody or Dumbledore; the look on their faces when you kick their arses with a previously unknown ability."

"That would be great. I could really throw Moody's 'Constant Vigilance' in his face." Harry laughed as well. "Me versus Snape. I'd love that."

"Do it at Hogwarts. You could sell tickets and make a ton of money." Tonks calmed. "If you order me to keep this a secret as my Head of House then there's no way I could share this information. Family still comes first."

"Thanks. I, Lord Black, order you to keep what you learned during my morning lessons a secret."

"Cool, a little formal but never mind. So, are we running or not?" Tonks disappeared back under the cloak.

Still grinning Harry left the alley and continued his run.

!HPEaSE!

Hermione, Ginny and Luna were all reading in the lounge in the muggle part of the house when a very sweaty Harry and Tonks returned.

Tonks collapsed on the floor. "You have no idea how hard it is running under an invisibility cloak. Can you start doing your running in the World Room?"

"I suppose so." Harry shrugged. "I just like the fresh air."

"So do I, I just can't enjoy it under that thing."

"Okay, I'll start using the World Room to do my running in sometimes. Not all the time, I'm not giving up my freedom."

"Is a couple of times a week okay, maybe the day's we don't have our duelling training?" Tonks suggested.

"Okay." Harry agreed. "If you want a shower before you go, you can use one of the guest rooms upstairs in the extension."

"Thanks." Tonks was surprised but very appreciative. "You can show me the way since I've not been invited upstairs yet."

"You weren't family till yesterday." Harry grinned.

"What about all those other girls? Are they all family?" Tonks asked as she followed him from the room.

"Ummm." Harry paused suddenly just outside the room, causing Tonks to bump into him. "I'm not quite sure how to answer then."

"You can tell her the truth." Hermione called. "If she promises to keep it quiet."

"I'm her Head of House. I can order her silence." Harry called back to her.

"Then do it. We don't want that information to get out."

"Tonks. You can never reveal what you are about to learn without permission. Not One Word." Harry stared the older Auror down.

"I promise Harry." Tonks was uncharacteristically serious.

"Good. Thanks." Harry turned and resumed walking. "Do you want the long story or the short story?"

"Start with the short one."

"Okay. They're all my wives." Harry said bluntly.

Tonks tripped. "They are your wives?" Her she repeated slowly, her voice rising from the floor boards. "I might need a few more details."

"Why is she on the floor?" Daniel Granger made an appearance.

"She tripped." Harry answered. "She's actually quite clumsy."

"It's a little hard to keep your balance when you find out you Head of House has eight wives."

"He told you did he?" Daniel grinned down at her. "It was a little surprising for all of us when we found out."

"And you didn't kill him?" Tonks finally picked herself off the floor. "Your daughter is one of them."

"It was close but when Hermione almost immediately blamed Susan and we found out that Harry had very little to do with it." Daniel shrugged. "It was a little hard to blame Harry. And finding out about the basilisk he killed made me happy I didn't try."

"It's a rather big beastie isn't it?" Tonks grinned. "So, how did you end up with eight wives, including my boss's niece?"

"Seven really since Luna sees me as a sibling."

"Brother or sister?" Tonks interrupted.

"Shut up. They swore an oath to me, to keep my secrets and help me." Harry explained. "We found out later that the oath also meant that they were legally married to me."

"That has to be the oddest way to be married I've ever heard of."

"Welcome to my life." Harry led the way upstairs.

"I finally get to see upstairs." Tonks rubbed her hands together.

Harry and Daniel laughed at her.

Tonks looked around the living and kitchen area appreciatively. "Nice. A happy, relaxed room. I like it."

"Thanks." Harry replied as he led her through to the upper corridor.

He led her past the first set of doors and opened one of the second pair. "This is an empty bedroom. The bathroom is that door over there. Do you need anything? Soap, towels?"

"Soap and shampoo would be nice; I can manage with my wand for the rest." Tonks replied. "Thanks though."

Harry called Winky and got her to get Tonks some soap and shampoo and wished Tonks a nice shower.

Daniel followed Harry down the corridor to his room. "You wanted an exercise room didn't you?" He asked.

"Yeah? Why?" Harry paused in his doorway.

"I thought we could go and find some this morning. We can order any other furniture you need as well."

"Yes." Harry nodded. "We need to order the furniture that the other girls used to furnish their rooms with. We should put something in the other rooms as well for any guests."

"So, how long do you need? Half an hour?"

"Okay, I think I can shower and eat in that amount of time."

"Don't rush. We can wait until you're ready." Daniel assured him.

"Thanks." Harry disappeared into his bedroom.

When he emerged for breakfast he found that the other girls had arrived. For the most part they had arrived while he was out for his morning training session. They had brought a selection of clothes with them and had been putting them away in their bedrooms, which is why they hadn't been noticed until now.

Harry joined them all in the muggle lounge, sitting on the floor eating his breakfast. "Did Daniel tell you about his idea?"

"About getting the exercise equipment? He mentioned it." Hermione replied. "I'm a little concerned about leaving though; the furniture we ordered should be arriving today so one of us will need to be here."

"Speaking of furniture, we need to order more for the other rooms, especially what everyone else wants."

"True, I have a list of what they need. What are you going to do with the other rooms?"

"I have no idea. I was hoping for suggestions." Harry paused a moment. "Although, I'm a little uncertain of having other people up there; it's nice having a place where it's just us."

"We could put a door across the hallway before Padma's room and do something else with the extra room." Susan suggested.

"Yes but the bathrooms on those two rooms are joined to the rooms next to them." Hermione argued.

"So? Shrink the bathroom." Padma shrugged. "It's big enough that I wouldn't mind if it was cut in half. I don't have to share like the rest of you. If both the bathrooms become half the size and no longer join the rooms then you have essentially cut the corridor in half."

"Excellent idea, Padma." Hermione paused thoughtfully. "The room opposite yours could be a common room or something. That would still leave six rooms for guests. If we put double beds in those two rooms and, I'm not sure. Should we use two single beds or a pair of bunk beds?"

"You could put a pair of bunk beds in without any problems. Those rooms are not lacking in space." Daphne commented.

"You might get an extra bunk bed for my room as well." Padma said. "I'm sure that my sister will manage to convince me to allow her to stay at some point and, knowing her, Lavender will be with her. She's my sister and it's only proper to put her and her friend up in my room." Padma grinned suddenly. "But I don't have to be overly generous about it."

The other girls laughed.

"So what are we doing then?" Harry asked when they calmed down a little.

"You, dad and Tonks need to go today. There would be room for only two more in the car." Hermione said. "I'll need to remain here in case the furniture arrives early." She shrugged. "I wouldn't be much use anyway."

"I should grab Tonks before she goes." Harry gasped.

He stood and turned to leave when Hermione's words stopped him.

"I've already talked to her." Hermione said. "She's gone home to change in to something more muggle."

Harry let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks. All we need now is the list of furniture."

"I'll go get it. You finish your breakfast." Hermione left.

"So, who's coming?" Harry asked the others.

"Please." Daphne called out quickly.

"Yes please." Susan's response overlapped Daphne's but was slightly behind hers.

"Now that that is settled, I need to finish getting ready." Harry stood and left, returning the bowl to kitchen.

"Ginny?" Luna looked at her year mate in surprise. "You don't want to go?"

"Of course I do." Ginny replied strongly then she shrugged. "I can't hog him all the time though. You all need some time with him as well."

"Thanks Ginny." Daphne looked at the younger girl gratefully.

"Look after him. You don't know how rough his life has been."

"Has it really been that bad?" Hannah asked.

"Worse probably. He may be the most clueless boy who ever existed but he has a good excuse." Ginny took a deep breath. "His life with those blasted muggles he has the misfortune of calling relatives was dreadful. He grew up totally without love, being punished for his cousin's bad behaviour..." Ginny stopped with a strangled sob. "He didn't even get any hugs as a child."

Hannah and Daphne, surprisingly enough, moved to sit on either side of the younger redhead and embraced her comfortingly.

"Thanks." Ginny managed to regain her composure, her hands gripping their arms for additional support."

"He wouldn't have even had a decent birthday party then." Padma said softly. "Even my father was never that bad."

"Well, you know what we have to do then, don't you?" Tracy stated.

"What?" Susan asked.

"We give him a birthday party." Tracy grinned. "A sweet sixteen. The best party ever."

"Who do we invite?" Hannah asked excitedly.

"Depends. Do we want to keep it small or make it as big as possible?" Padma replied thoughtfully.

"Harry doesn't like a fuss being made about him." Ginny said cheering up at the thought of a wonderful party for Harry. "We shouldn't let it get too big."

"Isn't it a little odd that a Slytherin is pushing for a birthday party for the Gryffindor-Golden-Boy?" Susan teased.

Tracy looked down her nose at the Hufflepuff. "Nonsense. Slytherin is the house of cunning and ambition. Only the most ambitious could devise a party to make up for a decade and a half of missed parties and only the most cunning could make it a surprise for the one who has to defeat you-know-who."

"Bravo." Daphne cheered her friend.

The others applauded her as well. Tracy stood and took a bow.

"So we start planning now?" Hannah asked.

"As soon as Harry leaves." Tracy said. "It's just as well Ginny and Hermione are staying. We'll need their help for the guest list."

"We'll need party games as well." Hannah said excitedly.

"Yes." Ginny lit up. "Some our age and maybe some a little younger as well; let Harry be a kid for a change."

"It might be fun to be a little childish with all the preparations we're going though for the war." Daphne smiled.

"Oooh, this is going to be so much fun." Hannah squealed in excitement.

Luna was bouncing in her seat as well. "I want to help with the party games."

"We have to keep this quiet." Daphne scolded the two girls who were making more noise that she thought wise.

"Keep what quiet?" Hermione had returned with a piece of paper covered in writing.

"We are going to throw a surprise party for Harry." Tracy replied after the others indicated for her to speak. "One to make up for all the ones he's missed."

Hermione considered the Slytherin thoughtfully then looked at Ginny. "You told them about his life at the Dursley's."

"A little." Ginny replied.

"Good. They need to know if they plan on staying." Hermione turned back to Tracy. "The party is an inspired idea. We start as soon as he leaves."

"How do you want us to treat Harry?" Daphne asked.

"Talk to him. He doesn't relax with most people easily. The touch barrier is the other thing we need to work on." Hermione said.

"How do you want us to handle the touching?" Susan asked.

"Just touch him gently whenever possible, mostly on the arms and back. Try to keep it unobtrusive and casual." Hermione said after a moment's thought.

"No hugging?" Daphne teased.

"Not in public, two girls hugging would draw a lot of unwanted attention."

"In private then." Daphne stood and offered a hand to Susan to pull her to her feet. "We had better get ready."

"Why are you so interested in hugging Harry?" Ginny asked.

"Can you think of anyone who needs or deserves a hug more than Harry?"

"True. Far more true than you know. Birthday's and hugs were not all he missed out on growing up." Hermione said sharing a sad glance with Ginny.

"What have you learnt?" Tracy asked.

"We were teasing Harry after he told Luna a bedtime story after the leaving feast. We went a bit too far and he blew up at us. It sort of came spilling out them, how he grew up in a cupboard, how he was punished for getting better grades then his moronic cousin." Hermione had to stop as her eyes started were tearing.

Ginny took up the story. "We grew up knowing his name. He didn't learn it until he was five." Ginny paused collecting herself and continued with what she had learnt that evening.

"That's horrifying." Hannah said, wiping at her eyes.

"How did someone who grew up in that environment become such a kind and generous person?" Tracy asked.

"One of life's mysteries." Luna commented sadly.

They sat in silence trying to regain their composure.

"We need to get ready." Daphne spoke quietly to Susan.

Susan nodded and they left.

"Ginny and I made a pact to help him get over what happened to him and find some real happiness for himself." Hermione said quietly looking intently at the other girls. "We could use the help."

The girls looked at each other and shared nods.

"We are here to help." Padma said for the group. "That is why we took the oath."

"If Harry needs to heal to win then heal him we will." Tracy added simply. "And I already know Daphne is committed to that."

"Susan as well." Hannah agreed. "She really likes Harry."

"Thanks." Hermione smiled gratefully.

"So, are we planning the best birthday party ever or what?" Hannah asked, forcing cheerfulness into her voice to improve the mood.

!HPEaSE!

Harry had met Tonks in the Entrance Hall on his way back down. Susan and Daphne had passed through soon after and dashed off saying they would be ready in a minute. They took nearly ten minutes but Harry and Tonks were having a nice chat so they didn't notice too much.

Daniel came in looking for them and soon joined in the conversation while they waited.

Susan and Daphne appeared, dressed in muggle clothing, apologising for keeping everyone waiting. Daniel just waved their apologies away.

"Let's say good-bye to the others and go." He led the way out of the room.

A quick farewell later, Harry was stuck in the middle of the back seat between Susan and Daphne. Tonks was in the front seat chatting with Daniel, who was driving.

"How are you feeling this morning Harry? After yesterday?" Daphne asked breaking the silence.

"Good thanks." Harry replied. "I feel fully rested."

"Impressive. Most people would take a few days to recover from that level of drain."

"Just one more way in which I'm odd."

"Yeah, but don't worry about it, we still like you." Daphne nudged him with her shoulder.

Harry shot a glare at her while Susan giggled but there was no heat in it.

"So, where did those brooms come from?" Daphne asked. "I can't believe that you have four Firebolts just lying around."

"No. I got them yesterday. Five Firebolts and Five Nimbus 2000s."

"So many? Why?" Susan gasped.

"I got four Firebolts for you two, Ginny and Luna. I thought that we could try fighting from them. The Nimbus 2000s are for the others and one more for Tonks."

"And the fifth Firebolt?"

"For me."

"But you already have one?"

"It was a gift from my Godfather. The only one he ever actually managed to give me. I don't want it to get damaged." Harry said quietly.

"Fair enough." Susan caught his hand with one of her own and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"The broom was what you were talking about at Diagon Alley wasn't it? The really nice surprise you used to bribe me out of hurting you?" Daphne asked.

"Yes." Harry admitted. "I asked Tracy how you felt about flying. When she told me you loved it I knew that was my way out of getting hurt."

"Thank you. I really appreciate the gift." Daphne smiled grasping his other hand in both of hers.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it."

"Yes, it is a wonderful gift. Thanks. Why did you get the Nimbus's though? Why not Firebolts for everyone?" Susan asked.

"Because of Hermione mostly." Harry admitted. "She's not a good flyer. She couldn't handle a Firebolt and would never try. The Nimbus is a good broom. Fast while remaining stable and more forgiving for a beginner. With them all on the same broom she won't feel like she's holding them up. If we get in a fight we can send them on and still be able to catch up easily."

"Practical and logical." Daphne nodded.

"Yes, and they came in handy yesterday when we went to find you after you destroyed the World Room." Susan added. "I still can't believe how powerful you are. You're already achieving things that only the greatest wizards have managed."

"What has he managed to do this time?" Tonks asked twisting slightly to address the back seat. "Other than destroying the World Room."

"Did you know he managed to visualise his magical core?"

Tonks twisted sharply in surprise, nearly choking herself on her seat belt. "You managed to visualise your magical core!" She gasped. "Do you know how rare that is?"

"Very, from what I've heard." Harry shrugged.

"What did it look like?" Tonks was nearly begging to know.

"A ball of white energy. It looked amazing actually, now that I think about it. I was a little distracted by what Voldemort was doing at the time."

"What I don't get is how powerful you are." Daphne said. "I know you chased away a hundred Dementors at the end of third year but last night was something else." Daphne paused. "I know you said your core got bigger but it doesn't seem to add up. You didn't indicate your core grew that much."

"Actually it does make sense." Daniel entered the conversation.

"How?"

"I can't remember the exact numbers or formulas but I believe that if a sphere grows in diameter by 10% then it grow in volume by around 30%. If the representation of a ball of energy is accurate then it is possible that what would appear to be a small increase could actually be a large increase in power."

Daphne paused in thought. "I didn't know that. Should I be concerned that a muggle worked this out before a witch, or wizard? No offence."

"None taken." Daniel chuckled. "You just have to remember that muggles are all about learning how things work. You might find that a lot of non-magical ideas have a lot of validity in the magical world."

"You know, I just might make a study of that once we deal with you-know-who." Daphne smiled.

"Sounds good." Harry said. "I know Hermione would love to help you with that too. I might as well."

"You're all welcome to help. I might broach the subject with her when we get back."

"Here is a question to start you off. Is your magical core like a muscle?" Daniel threw the idea out.

"Interesting, how do you mean?" Daphne asked. "You must have a reason for asking."

"The body's muscles are developed and improved via exercise. You work the muscle which damages it. When it repairs itself it makes itself stronger to be able to better cope with the strain out on it."

"So you want to know if a magical core can be developed the same way. I believe so. Tonks?"

"To the best of my knowledge it does sort of work that way but I don't know of any actual studies into it." Tonks replied. "I do know that most people don't due to the risk of permanent damage from magical exhaustion.

"That might be why Harry is so powerful." Susan said.

"Huh?" Daphne lent forward to look past Harry at the Hufflepuff.

"Well, he told us that his energy was surrounded by a dark energy. If that theory is correct then he spent about fifteen years having to fight against that in order to do any magic at all."

"Which forced he core to get so much stronger than everyone else's to compensate." Daphne finished.

"Exactly." Susan nodded.

"So by attacking me, he basically gave me the tools I need to defeat him." Harry said slowly.

"It looks that way."

"You'll have to continue this later." Daniel interrupted. "We're here." He was indicating to turn into a car park.

They entered the store and began looking around at the various exercise equipment. The three witches and one gender-altered wizard had very little idea about what each machine did or how it worked.

It was not a problem however since they were all, or at least appeared to be, very attractive and busty teenage girls so they didn't lack attention from the male salesmen, all of whom were more than willing to demonstrate the various ways of using each machine and let Harry and the girls practise themselves.

A few discussions later Harry went to talk to Daniel and Tonks about what they should get. They decided that it would be best to get three each of the treadmills, cycles, rowing machines and cross-trainers. He got a two each of a pair of machines which would allow for a large range of exercises, one focusing on the upper body, the other on the lower body. They also got several benches, two with stands for weight bars.

Harry had been looking over the various premade dumbbells and free-weight bars and had decided against the premade dumbbells in favour of bars or various length and weight plates to assemble their own for flexibility.

Susan, Tonks and Daphne glared at one salesman who had Harry trying several exercises on a bench with dumbbells. One of them involved Harry leaning forward over the bench providing the salesman a view down the front of his top at the ample bosom of his female body. They didn't get the chance to call him on it though, and didn't end up needing to.

When Harry looked down while checking his movements were correct and noticed just what he was showing and where the salesman was staring his eyes flashed, his face flushed slightly in embarrassment and anger and the air around him charged slightly with energy as he righted himself and shot an ice cold glare at the young man.

"Do you mind?" Harry ground out coldly.

"Uh." The salesman backed away from the suddenly pissed off wizard, nearly tripping over in his haste to escape.

The other salesmen joined the three witches in their laughter at the salesman while Harry went to join Daniel who was being shown a rather odd looking device.

"What's this?" He asked.

"They're called Traps. They are used to launch the clay pigeon's used in Skeet shooting." Daniel replied. "I thought you might find them useful for target practice."

"Can I see it in action?"

Daniel looked at the salesman who nodded.

"We can fire it at a wall out back." The salesman lifted the device on to its wheels and pushed it out back.

Setting it up, he triple checked the device to ensure that it would fire in the right direction and ensured that everyone was behind him. Loading a clay disk into the machine he pulled back the mechanism and let it fly.

The clay disk shot across the short distance and smashed against the wall.

Harry raised his eyebrows and asked quietly. "What do people normally use to shoot those?"

"Shotguns." Daniel replied then lowered his voice further so he wouldn't be overheard. "They fire a spread of pellets. Your spells would be more like a rifle bullet, very focused.

"This is going be a challenge then. One we should accept."

"I'll get this added to the order."

"And another four. Oh, get as many of those disk things as you can."

"Clay pigeons? Would a couple of thousand do for a start?"

"I think so." Harry turned to return to the main part of the store. "I need to pick out which weight plates we need."

When Harry had finished selecting the various weight bars and plates he did a quick mental calculation on the price, pulled that much and a little more out of his wallet and quietly slipped it to Daniel.

"We'll probably attract less attention if you pay." Harry whispered to him.

"True. Good idea. I'll go pay and we can get out of here before someone else hits on you and this store goes the same way as the World Room." Daniel grinned.

"Please." Harry turned to get the others.

After paying Daniel, Harry and the three witches led a couple of assistants out to the car with a trolley carrying the few items they were taking now, the rest to be delivered in a couple of days.

Once the car had been loaded and they were leaving the car park, Daphne started talking. "I didn't realise how serious you were going get about this physical exercise."

"During the fight in the DOM we were running around all over the place, we did very little standing a casting. Plus the training we have been getting is very physical." Harry shrugged. "This stuff should hopefully make it easier."

"I realise that. I'm just saying that we need more exercise clothes. We only got a couple sets, that's not enough."

"We can't really go shopping without the others. It's not fair." Harry said, not looking forward to another shopping trip.

"We can get things for them too. We know all their sizes and colour preferences." Daphne said. "They will appreciate that we anticipated their needs."

"She does have a point." Susan added.

"We will see how much time we have after we order the rest of the furniture." Daniel interrupted.

"Alright." Daphne subsided.

"Harry has a complete list of the furniture we need from Hermione. It won't take long to order it." Susan said.

Daphne brightened. "That's right. I'd forgotten that." She settled into her seat cheerfully.

Susan was right. Hermione's usual over efficiency had even included the prices and a total so all Harry needed to do was pass the list and money over to Daniel and wait in the car with the three girls while Daniel disappeared into the store for ten minutes.

Returning to the car he addressed his passengers as he pulled on his seatbelt. "So, a sportswear store next then?"

"Yes please, Mr Granger." Daphne replied excitedly.

He and Tonks laughed at her enthusiasm, and Harry's comment.

"Okay, just as long as you take the blame for any of the others feeling left out."

Daphne shoved the wizard next to her gently as Susan joined the laughter coming from the front seats.

The sporting goods store was very different to the last one they had visited, catering more to the common forms of exercise rather than including more specialist items. As such the two witches found themselves impressed at the muggles ability to provide clothing that could make a girl feel good about getting covered in sweat.

It also introduced them to lycra. The skin-tight outfits that would leave nothing to the viewers imagination. Colours that ranged from ghastly and garish to calm, sedate and soothing and styles that allowed the wearer to emphasise any or all aspects of their bodies.

Daphne and Susan paused to look at one such mannequin. Dressed in a soft, two tone blue crop top and matching long pants it looked a nice and reasonably respectable choice save for the electric blue body suit over the top. One where the neckline sat below the bust and the back fitted between the cheeks.

"What do you think the point of the body suit is?" Susan asked Daphne quietly.

"Before the weekend I couldn't have told you but know I can say for certain it is to get people looking at your boobs and butt without showing off a single thing." Daphne replied.

"So it's nothing more than an attention getter." Susan paused. "Wouldn't it be more effective if you wore nothing underneath it?"

Daphne stared at the Hufflepuff in shock for a second before responding. "Yes, but would you wear it in public?"

"In public? No. When it's just us and Harry, or just Harry, maybe." Susan flushed slightly.

"Miss Bones. Getting forward are you?" Daphne teased.

"So you don't think it's a good idea then?" Susan slumped slightly.

"Not just yet. Give it time though." Daphne reassured her. "Let's get a few shall we."

The two girls giggled as they started selecting a variety of items, various cuts and colours for them to mix and match. The stretch in the fabric allowed them to almost have one size for all. Only Ginny's and Luna's particularly petite frames and theirs and Harry's busts required them to make a few special selections.

Harry was looking at looser fitting sportswear with Tonks and they had selected a range of items for everyone. Daniel had been looking at sporting equipment and had picked a set of golf clubs and a few sets of skis.

They all reunited with their baskets of clothing, or a trolley in Daniels case, to select sports shoes for everyone.

It had taken nearly an hour to get out of the store with enough bags to fill not only what room was left in the boot and roof rack but the foot-wells and laps of the four passengers.

Despite how happy Daphne was at having gone shopping again, the ride home with bags filling her lap and crowding her feet had taken the edge off. She was just a glad as the others to get home.

"It's a pity that we never got enough privacy to shrink this lot." She grumbled.

"Yeah I know, but it was your idea to go shopping." Susan teased.

Daphne just huffed and looked pointedly out the window.

Back home the two house elves made short work of unloading the car. By the time Harry, Susan and Daphne had joined the others in the lounge all of the bags had been deposited in there and the others had started going through them.

"You went shopping without us?" Tracy glared at Daphne.

"After seeing how much exercise equipment Harry was getting I knew that we didn't have enough exercise clothing, so we got a few things for everyone." Daphne defended herself.

Harry interrupted. "I'm sure that you can finish this later; when I'm not around. Right now I want to show you all something."

"You'll have to show me later." Tonks said from the doorway. "I need to check in at the DMLE. I just wanted to say goodbye and that I had fun. Call me if you want to go anywhere else."

"I will. Thanks Tonks. See you later." Harry replied.

The other girls bid the Auror farewell as she disappeared.

"You were going to show us something?' Hannah prompted Harry.

"Oh, yes. Follow me please."

Harry led them to the World Room where Daniel and Dobby were setting up the clay pigeon trap.

"Are you ready?" Harry asked.

"Nearly." Daniel adjusted something. "Okay, now we're ready."

Harry pulled his wand and nodded. "I'm ready."

Daniel pulled a clay pigeon from a box and placed in it the mechanism. "Ready. Just say the word."

"Fire!" Harry stated.

Nothing happened.

Harry turned and looked at the father of his best friend while the girls laughed quietly.

"What? You said the wrong word." He defended himself, trying to repress his own laughter.

"And just what, may I ask, is the correct word?" Harry enunciated clearly and firmly.

"'Pull'." Daniel replied. "When I've launched the target I tell you to fire."

"Thank you for telling me. Right after I embarrassed myself."

"Not a problem. Anytime." Daniel grinned.

"Shall we try this again or is there something else I should know first?"

"You aim for the clay pigeon after I launch it. And you try to hit it."

"Thank you." Harry glared at him briefly before getting ready again. "Pull."

Daniel released the clay pigeon. "Fire!"

Harry managed to cast two Reducto curses at it before it disappeared into the trees, neither came that close.

"So, you want to try that again?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah." Harry grumped.

Daniel loaded another clay pigeon. "Ready."

"Pull."

"Fire!"

Harry cast again and got a little closer but still didn't hit it. He missed the third and fourth clay pigeon's as well.

"Bugger. I need to cast faster and the spells move too slowly." Harry glared into the distance.

"Non-verbal casting is faster but you're right. The spells aren't moving fast enough." Hermione agreed.

"I remember you telling me that you could make a spell more powerful by focusing more into it." Daniel started thoughtfully. "Could you make it move faster the same way?"

"I don't know. I've never tried." Harry took on a thoughtful look as well.

"I have another question for you all to think about as well." Daniel continued. "Is it possible to prepare the spell before you cast it?"

"How do you mean?" Hermione asked, curious.

"I don't know anything about magic but I was wondering if there was some way of preparing yourself so you could cast your spells faster."

Hermione thought for a minute. "Harry. When you did your martial arts you charged the air around you, you seem to touch your magic directly. Do you think that if you do that you could cast faster?"

"I don't know, but I can try." Harry stood facing the distance and calmed himself.

Suddenly the air around him charged.

"Ready?"

Daniel loaded another clay pigeon. "Ready."

"Pull."

The disk was launched and Harry started casting. The spells flew towards the clay much faster this time and the interval between spells was reduced allowing Harry to cast a third spell.

They all missed but Harry was encouraged that he was making progress.

He didn't score a hit until the eighth clay where he clipped it with his second spell. He missed the ninth glanced the tenth and eleventh enough to crack them and scored a solid hit on the twelfth with his first spell, shattering it.

The girls and Daniel broke out into applause.

Harry relaxed and the air around him calmed. "Well. Who wants to go next?"

Ginny jumped forward moments before Daphne.

"Bugger." The Slytherin girl slumped.

"Why don't you both go?" Daniel suggested. "See who can hit it first. A friendly challenge."

Ginny looked up at the taller girl. "I'm up for a challenge. You?"

"Okay." Daphne offered her hand.

The two girls shook and took up positions on either side of the trap, wands drawn.

"Ready?" Daniel asked.

The two girls nodded and Daniel let the clay fly. Neither girl hit it, although Ginny was closer.

Ginny was closer on the second and third clay's as well. On the fourth Daphne only took a single shot but she was closer. Ginny copied Daphne's tactic of a single well aimed shot and won the fifth and sixth round. Daphne came back for the seventh. They had been getting closer each time, although neither had hit one yet. They were so close on the next four that they couldn't tell who was closer.

Neither of them scored a hit until the thirteenth clay, although the last couple had been so close that the clay's flight was disrupted slightly by the passing spell. Ginny and Daphne had been getting a little frustrated and had the odd wild shot but Ginny had been trained by Harry and refused to let him and his training down. She scored a glancing hit that cracked the clay into pieces.

"I won." She cheered.

The other girls applauded while Daphne grumped.

"Nice shot Ginny." Daphne congratulated the Gryffindor, offering her hand.

"Thanks." Ginny ignored the hand and stepped forward to hug the older girl. "That was really close at the end. I think you would have gotten the next one if I had missed."

"Thanks." Daphne returned the hug and then stepped back the smile at the redhead. "We're really going to shock the Auror's at training tomorrow. And thank you too, Mr Granger. Your idea for increasing the spell speed was brilliant."

"You're welcome and please, call me Daniel." Daniel nodded and smiled at the girl. He addressed the group as a whole. "Who's up next?"

"Susan and Luna I think." Hermione said. "They're the ones doing the training, they should go next."

"I'll see you in a bit." Harry said as the girls got ready. "I just want to go and try something."

"Okay, Harry." Hermione waved. "Stay safe."

The others waved briefly as he moved off before turning to watch the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw face off.

Harry walked diagonally across the neatly mowed grass that made one of the fairways of golf course towards the river. At the river's edge he followed it upstream for half a mile until he reached the waterfall at the head of the river.

With the girls encouraging each other it was a little too noisy to think and Daniel's idea about preparing before casting the spell had him wondering if that may help with the issues he had during his martial arts training.

Harry looked at the mass of falling water. It was in two parts, an upper fall of about twenty feet with a small flow before a massive hundred foot fall, it was an impressive feature. Magic had carefully muted the natural roar to a more soothing level. The waterfall ended in a lake from which the river flowed. In middle of the lake was a small island only a couple of dozen metres across. Its sandy beaches and occasional rocks framed a small woodland area.

The lake itself was quite deep; save for the shallows at the edges and around the island, deep enough that a reasonable sized boat stood no risk of grounding.

Harry called for Winky to bring his broom and flew over to the island and stood on the sandy shore facing the expanse of falling water.

Tapping into his magic he felt the now familiar charging of air around him. Focusing on the waterfall he began creating the punches of air. He could see the water distort slightly under the impact before the falling water erased it.

The punches were coming much faster this time. By charging himself he could throw the punches much quicker than during his training when he had to let his power fade between each attempt.

With practice he was able to rapidly punch the water creating waves of distortion flow back and forth across the surface of the sheet of falling water.

Harry grinned at his progress. Pleased he remounted his broom and flew back towards the others.

He flew in an arc to come up on the group from behind and avoid spell fire. Tracy and Hannah were the ones casting.

"How are people doing?" He asked Hermione quietly as he dismounted.

"Luna bet Susan on the fourteenth attempt and I bet Padma on the nineteenth." Hermione whispered back. "That was their fifteenth and I think will Tracy beat Hannah by seventeen at the most.

"So she is on track to beat you as well." Harry commented.

"Oh shut up." Hermione whispered back with a glare as the other girls laughed quietly.

It was the eighteenth clay but Hermione was right about Tracy winning.

"Nice shot Tracy." Harry complemented her.

"Thanks." She smiled. "That was much harder than I expected."

"I think it proved just why we aren't suited for combat." Hannah stood and stretched.

"I agree." Tracy said. "I think I need a break."

"It's time for lunch anyway." Daniel stood.

There was a double pop. "Is you all wanting lunch now?"

Winky and Dobby had appeared, each floating a pair of massive plates full of food.

"Umm. So where should we eat?" Daniel asked everyone in general. "Here or somewhere else?"

"If we head up river, the shore of the lake at the foot of the waterfalls is really nice." Harry suggested.

"Sounds good." Daphne said and grabbed one of his arms. "Lead on."

Tracy caught his other arm. "Yes. Show us this lovely spot."

Following the unlikely trio of a Gryffindor and two Slytherins they walked along the river bank until they reached the lake shore.

"This is wonderful." Daphne let go of Harry's arm and ran forward a few paces to look around the area.

"Thanks." Harry disengaged from Tracy and turned to the two house-elves. "Could you set out lunch here. Some blankets would be nice. You two are to join us as well."

"We's can't do that." Winky protested. "That's not proper."

"You are my house-elves, that means you're a part of the family and this is a family meal. Sit and eat." Harry stated.

"Yes Master Harry." The two house-elves subsided in the face of the logic and the direct order.

Winky elbowed Dobby into silence before he could go on another 'Harry Potter is the greatest" spiel.

Lunch was a very cheerful affair as they chatted and laughed with each other, mostly about the clay pigeon shooting, but other things as well. Daphne was quite happy to embarrass Harry by recounting what happened to him at the while practicing a certain exercise and the store assistant he terrorised.

Dobby perked up towards the end of the meal from where he had been talking with Winky and Luna and vanished. He reappeared after a moment in front of Daniel.

"Mr Granger, there is being a couple of people at the front gate. They have a large muggle vehicle with them as well."

"That will be the furniture you ordered at the weekend." Daniel stood. "Come on you lot. You can make yourselves useful and help move some of the stuff you got."

"What happens if you don't have anything in this lot?" Tracy asked, but she had put her plate aside and was standing up.

"Then you don't have to help." Daniel replied. "But don't expect us to help you move your furniture when it arrives."

"I was just asking." She replied slightly defensively, but she was smiling.

The furniture van was loaded with all the items ordered. With Harry's bedroom and the room Hermione and Ginny shared along with the furniture for the Entrance Hall, Lounge and the upstairs living room, it made for a substantial load. Especially since they couldn't use magic or have Dobby or Winky's help.

A fact more than one of the girls commented on under their breath as they helped to move the smaller chairs and tables while the movers teamed up with a long sturdy webbed strap that they used to pick up and move the larger and heavier items between the two of them.

It took a little over half an hour to move everything from the back of the van into the garage that Daniel had moved his car out of to make room.

While the mover's were a little perplexed as to why they were relocating everything into the garage, Daniel's explanation of refurbishing kept them from asking too many questions. As did the sight of nine beautiful teenage girls labouring away.

When they had finished, the garage door closed and the moving van heading back to the depot Dobby and Winky immediately took charge and began swapping the conjured furniture with the new arrived purchases. They had shooed everyone back into the World Room to finish their lunches. Daniel had begged off, he had to get to work. He was on for the afternoon and evening while his wife would be home within a couple of hours.

After the meal Hermione suggested that they should have a study session outside and enjoy the nice weather. This was how Emily found them when she came home, sprawled out on towel covered deckchairs that Hermione had Winky conjure reading and taking notes out in the nice summer day.

She'd asked Dobby where they were and proceeded out to the backyard

Her greeting was unusual enough to surprise even Luna. "Red."

"Umm, hello to you too Mum." Hermione sat up, confused.

"Hi everyone, Sorry, I was just thinking about Harry's hair. You should try red. That blonde really didn't suit him very well."

Padma sat up looked over at Harry in thought. "That might work."

"It will." Ginny grinned enthusiastically. "His mother was a redhead. The contrast with his eyes would be incredible."

"It would have to be a really deep, rich red." Daphne joined the conversation. "His eyes are such a brilliant green; the strong contrast would work for him."

Padma hauled Harry into a sitting position and pointed her wand at his hair to began changing to a variety of red's while the others commented until they found exactly the right red. She even managed to lengthen his hair a little to increase the overall effect. Looking at his reflection via a charm that created the same effect as a mirror he was surprised.

"I look a lot like my mother." He commented quietly. "Thanks."

He stood suddenly and walked away to be alone with his thoughts.

"Let him go." Hermione told everyone. "He'll be just fine. He just needs a few minutes."

"What happened?" Hannah voiced everyone's surprise.

"Everyone's always said he looked like his father. The few family heirlooms he has of his parents are his father's. The only good thing he ever had of his mother's was his eyes. We just gave him something else."

"Wow." Hannah looked thoughtful. "I never realised that he had so few things of his parents."

"He has more now, he found their personal belongings in their vault at Gringotts but I don't think he's really been able to go through them yet." Hermione paused. "It's a really big thing for him. We're going to have to be there for him, he's going to need our support."

"He has it." Daphne stated.

Susan agreed firmly and was quickly followed by the other girls.

"Thanks." Hermione and Ginny were moved at the show of support.

"Why don't you all take a break?" Emily suggested. "We have a lovely pool only a few yards from us and no one's used it yet. I think we should do something about that, and it might help cheer up Harry too."

"Just as well I included my swimwear in what I brought." Daphne stood. "I think we could do with a break as well and swimming sounds like fun."

"Yeah." Ginny agreed. "Come on Hermione, we're probably going to have to help Harry into something."

"Just let me finish this paragraph... There, done. Let's go. Does everyone have something here? Does anyone need to borrow something?" Hermione asked the group.

They all looked at each other but no one said anything.

"Alright then. See you all back here in a few minutes. You might want to bring something to wear over it for later." Hermione stood. "Come on Ginny, let's go find Harry and get him into a bikini."

"Do we have to wear a bikini?" Padma asked hesitantly.

Hermione stopped and turned to look at the nervous Ravenclaw. "Wear whatever you feel comfortable with."

"But Harry?"

"We're just teasing him a little but I have my reasons. Don't worry about it. Just take it easy on the comments. We don't want to take it too far, he's adapting to his new body but he's not comfortable yet.."

"Okay. We'll try to be restrained." Daphne assured her.

The girls headed for their rooms to change, Hermione and Ginny making a detour to grab Harry. Having dragged him to his room they burrowed into his draws to dig out a bikini and a long white shirt to cover it

"Okay. We need to go and change ourselves but we will be back in a few minutes so we can help you if you need it." Ginny told him as they left.

"I hate you both. You do know that." Harry glared after them.

They just laughed as they walked out the door.

Harry looked over the bikini they had selected. It was a brightly colour item, the most modest of the bikini's they had selected for him. The bottom wasn't a problem the sides were already tied and the fit was pretty well right, the top on the other hand needed to be tied at both the neck and back. He contemplated swapping it for a one piece suit but didn't want to face both Hermione and Ginny being angry at him. Voldemort was one thing but facing the two of them, that was something else.

He was still struggling to tie the top when they knocked on his door.

"You okay in there?" Hermione's voice sounded through the crack in the door as she opened it slightly so she wouldn't have to shout.

"No! Get in here and help me with this stupid top or pick me something easier to wear." Harry growled in frustration.

The door opened a little wider, enough for Hermione and Ginny to slip in one after the other. Harry was frustrated enough that he barely noticed that he was topless in front of them as he threw the top at them.

Ginny caught it easily and positioned it over his chest. "Hold it in place." She ordered.

Hermione had moved behind him to tie the straps. "Actually, could you hold it Ginny? I need Harry to hold his hair out of the way."

Harry moved his hands to catch the hair Hermione had gathered for him. Ginny, blushing badly, shifted the top until it was sitting properly. She tried to touch his breasts as little as possible but, given his large breasts and that it was a bikini, that was difficult and Harry soon matched her blush as Hermione tied the neck strings. Ginny let go once Hermione had caught the second pair of strings and pulled them tight.

Once they were tied Hermione turned Harry around to inspect how it was sitting. "Excuse me." She apologised as she adjusted how Harry's breasts were sitting inside the top so they were sitting properly.

Hermione stepped back and nodded as she looked Harry over. "You can let your hair down now. You look good."

"Thank you. Do you both enjoy manhandling me into this humiliation?" Harry glared at them both.

They exchanged a look and started smiling at each other.

"Yes we did." Ginny said.

"Maybe you can help us sometime in the future." Hermione added as she tossed the white shirt at him.

"Why aren't you wearing a bikini?" Harry asked Hermione.

"My scar is still a bit too visible for comfort." Hermione looked down a little. "Otherwise I'd be in a bikini smaller than yours."

"I'll hold you too that."

"Please do." Hermione paused. "I know you feel like we're dictating what you wear but we have put some consideration into your wellbeing."

"Really?" Harry was sceptical

"Take a look at my swimsuit and tell me what would be involved in going to the bathroom."

Harry looked her over and frowned in thought. He turned bright red as he worked out what she was implying. "You'd have to take the whole thing off."

"Exactly. Do you still want to wear one?"

"Umm. Maybe another time when I'm more comfortable with this body."

"That's what I thought. Come on. Let's go swimming." Hermione led the way out of the room.

She ducked into her room and came out holding a couple of shirts. She passed one to Ginny and pulled on her own shirt, leaving it hanging open, before grabbing Harry's hand and pulling him down the corridor. Ginny, caught by surprise, had to run a little to catch up but was soon on Harry's other side, helping Hermione guide him to the pool.

Because of the detour to collect Harry and then helping him dress, the three Gryffindors were the last to reach the pool. The others were waiting at the edge of the pool with Emily. The deckchairs had been shifted to the patio next to the pool along with the towels and study materials.

"No one's swimming?" Hermione asked.

"We decided to wait for you three." Emily replied. "We were all going to jump in together. Sort of a celebration."

"Cool." Ginny replied tossing her top onto the back on the nearest deckchair and moved to the edge of the pool.

Hermione pulled her shirt off and joined Ginny. "Come on Harry. We're waiting on you."

Harry forced himself to ignore everyone's gaze as he pulled his shirt off and sent it to join Hermione's and Ginny's shirts and he joined them by the pool.

They grabbed his hands and held him between them as they all took up positions on the pool's edge.

"Very nice, Harry. You look really good in that bikini." Daphne complimented him as she took up a position next to Ginny.

"Uh, thanks." He replied. "I notice you're not wearing one."

"True but you have to agree that doesn't cover that much more."

Harry nodded, blushing a little as he checked out Daphne in her skimpy one piece.

She smiled as his gaze travelled over her body. "How do I look?"

"Nice. Really nice." Harry looked away and looked at the other girls. "You all look really nice."

He received a lot of happy smiles and thank you's from the other girls.

"Come on everyone." Hermione called out. "On three. One. Two Three!"

With a resounding splash they all jumped.

"I'm glad this is the shallow end." Harry commented as he fought his long hair out of his eyes.

"Huh?" Susan over heard his comment. "Shallow end? Can't you swim?"

"No. I never got the chance to learn."

"What about the second task? You jumped in the Black Lake and rescued both Weasley and Delacour's sister?" Susan was confused.

"I used Gillyweed." Harry explained.

"Gillyweed?" Susan asked. "I'm not familiar with that."

"It's a water plant that gives the person who eats it gills and webbing between their fingers and toes." Hannah explained.

"Oh." Susan looked at Harry in surprise.

The others had also been following the conversation.

"Are you telling me that you jumped in a lake when you couldn't swim and trusted a weed to keep you safe?" Tracy asked, astounded. "You really are a Gryffindor."

"Yeah, when you put it like that it does sound a bit stupid doesn't it." Harry looked a bit abashed.

"Don't worry, it only means that we have to teach you how to swim." Susan said. "And since there is no time like the present..."

Susan, Hermione and Ginny took turns helping Harry learn how to swim while the others played at the other end of the pool. Emily had mostly swum laps and left the pool early to relax in a deckchair and watch over everyone.

The girls had taken a break later on as well, or rather they ended their break and, once dry enough, had returned to their studies for a while before returning to the pool for one last swim for the afternoon.

They had stopped their second round of swimming and were relaxing in the waning sun when Emily came out.

"Ginny." Emily called. "Your parents are here to see you."

"Oh, great." Ginny muttered as she stood.

"We're here for you Gin." Harry stood as well, picking up their shirts from the back of Hermione's deckchair and passing Ginny hers.

" I'm coming too." Hermione rose to join them grabbing her shirt as well.

They pulled on their shirts loosely and went in to meet Ginny's parents.

"Ginny! What are you wearing?" Molly Weasley started in on her as soon as she saw her.

"It's called a bikini mother. A muggle swimsuit." Ginny glared at her mother, pulling her shirt closed in reflex.

"Now, Molly." Arthur interrupted. "That won't solve anything. Are you okay, Ginny? Happy? Being looked after well?"

"Yes Dad." Ginny replied. "It's been really good here."

"I'm glad to hear it. Are you going to come home soon?"

"I don't think so. I'm needed here."

"Needed?"

"Yes. Needed." Ginny refused to elaborate further.

Molly let loose again. "And I suppose that 'these' two are the ones that need you? Do you mothers know how inappropriately you are dressed?"

"Yes actually." Hermione replied calmly. "She has a similar one in another colour that she was wearing earlier."

Molly didn't like how she wasn't being taken seriously and let loose on Harry. With his much larger breasts, his shirt was being pushed open wider showing more of his cleavage.

"What about your mother? Does she know how shamefully you are dressed?"

"My mother died nearly fifteen years ago." Harry was starting to get annoyed and decided to taunt Molly further since neither of the Weasley parents seemed to have recognised either Harry or Hermione. "But I normally go topless when I go swimming."

How Hermione and Ginny kept their composure after that was a mystery. Molly was rendered speechless in shock.

"It's interesting. Whenever you have us over you are a gracious hostess but you seem to be totally inappropriate manner in other people's homes. First at Grimmauld Place and now here."

Harry took a deep breath to control his anger before he destroyed the Granger's lounge. "It is interesting just how quickly you go from thinking we're wonderful people to thinking we are 'inappropriate'. Disappointing really."

Arthur froze at Harry's words and looked closely at the two girls he didn't recognise, they seemed rather familiar now that he thought about it.

Molly on the other hand was angry. Her face flushed bright red, a sure sign of her anger. She opened her mouth to rip into Harry when his face hardened.

The air charged suddenly as Harry's anger released his powers.

"If you like being in one piece I suggest that you stop talking. I am in no mood for you to insult my parents and my friends simply because of your archaic point of view. We respect it while we are guests in your home. You should reciprocate for Hermione now that you are in her home."

Molly had shrunk back, she had never felt such power from anyone before and it frightened her. The words spoken to her by this strange redhead were harsh but she had no counter to them. The revelation that the brunette was Hermione was shocking but as she actually looked at her, she recognised her youngest son's year mate.

Molly opened her mouth to speak again but Arthur cut her off. "Enough Molly. You are not helping. Hermione I do apologise for our behaviour. You have a lovely home."

"Thank you, Mr Weasley." Hermione replied. "And I do not believe you have anything to apologise for. Your wife on the other hand..."

"Yes of course. Who, may I ask is your other friend?"

"Harry Potter." Harry reintroduced himself dryly. "We've met before, a few times I believe."

"Indeed we have." Arthur chuckled. "Why are you here? You should be at your aunt and uncles."

"I chose to live somewhere I was wanted rather than somewhere I was hated." Harry shrugged. "I do not believe my aunt and uncle would have been happy having their nephew return as their niece. They would probably either kick me out or lock me in a cupboard again.

"Add to that the fact that my cousin would probably spend the entire time trying to feel me up and catch me naked. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to do more." Harry explained.

"Why haven't you ever said this before?" Arthur looked appalled, especially at how casually Harry talked about it.

"No one has asked." Harry shrugged. "I've been told what to do and that I can't be as bad as I am making out but no one has ever actually asked me about it. Dumbledore even went as far as confunding Hermione so that she wouldn't question his decision."

"He wouldn't do that would he?"

"He did. Just before the end of term after I was attacked by Malfoy. I had to use the strongest Finite I could to counter it. Add to the fact that he expects me to trust him and his decisions without any explanation."

"I'm sure that he's doing his best Harry." Arthur started.

Harry cut him off. "It appears like he's doing as little as possible and making the same mistakes over and over again. He never revealed anything until it was too late and refuses to let me do anything now."

"You're just a child Harry. You shouldn't have to. Leave it to the adults." Molly said.

"You're right. I shouldn't have to do anything. I should be able to leave it to the adults." Harry was starting to get angry again and the crackle of energy began to be felt in the air again. "I should be able to be a child but I can't. Dumbledore destroyed my chances of childhood to moment he left me on my aunt and uncles doorstep. Voldemort has been my concern since my first year at Hogwarts and he will continue to be until he is ended. Permanently.

"It's not just the adults in danger. The children are in danger as well. He doesn't care who he kills. Nor do his Death Eater slaves."

Hermione took over. "Do you honestly think we can just sit back and wait until we are older to start learning how to defend ourselves? Do you honestly think He will leave us alone until after we graduate and start training? Do you honestly think that you can protect us from a dozen or two Death Eaters by yourselves? If you do then you are either stupid or have your head stuck so far up Dumbledore's arse that you can't think for yourself."

Molly opened her mouth to argue again but Harry stopped her.

"No." Harry wasn't loud but the word was charged with energy and echoed through her ears.

She opened her mouth to speak again but nothing came out. She tried again but she was totally unable to vocalise any word or even make a noise.

"What do your parents have to say about this Hermione?" Arthur asked quietly.

"They don't like it but they understand why and are standing with us. They are helping us get better so we will be safer, not trying to smother us or hide us and prevent us from learning anything."

"Why are you doing this now?"

Harry answered. "Because now Dumbledore's actions are placing us in more danger and costing other people their lives. Sirius died because Dumbledore tried to 'protect' me from the truth. I stopped trusting Dumbledore to protect people."

"I know. I saw your Defence fund and donation to the DMLE in the Daily Prophet. You can't spend all your inheritance like that." Arthur told Harry.

"What do you know of my inheritance? I knew nothing until I went to Gringotts after the trip home from Hogwarts. I found that a lot had been kept from me. The donations and the fund came from my own money, not my inheritance so you don't get to lecture me on wasting the money my parents left me."

"I'm not trying to lecture you, Harry."

Harry shrugged. "Either way, I can't trust you. I know you won't intentionally hurt or betray me but I can't trust you to act in my best interests. You still think that Dumbledore is right. You believe in him too much and not enough in yourself. I guess I'll have to find someone else to help me.

"If there is nothing else, we have things to do."

Arthur pulled his wand and tried to restore his wife's voice. It took him five attempts but she was able to speak, if not much more than a whisper.

"We should go, Molly. Staying will only cause more problems. Ginny is safe and well looked after, we don't need to worry." Arthur tried to lead his wife out.

"I'm not leaving without my daughter." Molly pushed her husband's hands away.

"I'm not leaving." Ginny glared at her mother. "I'm much happier here. I need to be here."

"You need to be here?" You need to be at home. Do you think that if you're here he will fall in love with you?" Molly lashed out.

"Oh, we are already beyond that. Hermione and I decided to share him. He's such strong man we feel we have to work together to handle him." A fed up Ginny went out of her way to taunt her mother.

Hermione took up the story. "We feel that Harry deserves all the love we can give him."

Hermione moved next to Ginny and slid an arm around her waist. "It also helps that she's so cute."

"You can't be serious." Molly scoffed.

Hermione leaned over and kissed Ginny on the cheek, near her lips. "Very kissable too."

Hermione refocused on Ginny's parents. "I think it's time for you both to leave." She said harshly.

Arthur led his shocked and speechless wife out of the house without a word.

Hermione turned to see Harry staring at the two of them.

"I can't believe you did that." He managed.

"Why not?" Hermione leant forward and kissed him in the same place as she kissed Ginny. "I'm going to enjoy kissing you when we're ready." She left a speechless Harry behind her and went outside.

Ginny reached up and pulled Harry's head lower so she could kiss him on the other side then followed Hermione, pulling him along with her.

!HPEaSE!

As the three Gryffindors left to meet Ginny's parents they were being watched.

"Tracy, were you checking out Harry's behind?" Daphne asked her friend.

Tracy started. "Umm."

"You were weren't you?"

Tracy blushed. "I don't know what's happening to me. I just keep thinking about him. Ever since last night, I find myself thinking about him without even realising it."

"The bond we have with him is wider." Luna commented absently from the book she was reading.

"Can you give us a little more than that?" Tracy asked.

"When we pushed our magic to Harry after he destroyed the World Room we accepted the bond we have with him and opened it wider."

"Later." Daphne said as she pulled her wand a quick charm later and the conversation was clearly audible.

"You shouldn't listen in." Hannah gasped.

"Shhh." Tracy fired back.

Hannah looked at Susan for support but she was as interested in listening in as the Slytherins.

They could feel the charging of the air as Harry got angry and were curious about what they couldn't see.

"You don't hold back do you?" Daphne greeted Hermione as she appeared.

"You heard?" Hermione paused.

"Everything." Hannah shot a glare at the Slytherin. "She used a charm that allowed us to hear everything."

"I succumbed to curiosity." Daphne shrugged. "Besides, if you needed help then we would be there."

"That's as good an excuse as any." Ginny appeared from behind Hermione with Harry in tow.

"So what did we miss?" Daphne looked eager.

"Harry silenced my mother wandlessly."

"Nice Harry. We know you got angry, we could feel it out here. The way you and Hermione tore into her. Impressive."

"Hermione's like that." Harry finally managed to say something. "Always has been."

"Oh? Do tell?" Tracy looked interested.

"She put Neville under a full body bind when he tried to stop us going after the Philosopher's Stone in first year, though she did apologise for it straight away. She decked Malfoy in third year when he was bragging about getting Buckbeak executed..."

"Okay that's enough." Hermione cut him off.

"I didn't even get to Rita Skeeter." Harry complained.

"I did wonder how you got her to write that piece you put in the Quibbler." Tracy prodded.

Hermione sighed. "I found out that she's an illegal animagus towards the end of our fourth year and I used that information to blackmail her into shutting up, and later, writing that piece."

Tracy and Daphne broke out into applause.

"I never thought I would see the day where Hermione Granger would show such Slytherin qualities." Daphne laughed.

"Oh shut up." Hermione slumped down in her deckchair.

"Did anything else interesting happen?"

"Hermione kissed Ginny." Harry said.

"What? All we had we Tracy watching your butt." Daphne complained. "Is she a good kisser?"

Tracy, Hermione and Ginny were blushing.

"Who are you asking?" Ginny asked.

"Either of you. Why?"

"Seemed like a good idea at the time. I just wanted to annoy Mrs Weasley for insulting us." Hermione shrugged. "I only kissed her cheek; you could try it if you liked." Hermione winked at Daphne causing the Slytherin to blush.

"So, why are you happy kissing Ginny and why is Tracy looking at Harry's backside and why are we so calm about it?" Susan asked.

"I blame Daphne." Hermione stated as relaxed back into her deckchair.

"Hey! What did I do!" Daphne exclaimed as the others laughed.

"You brought up the idea of sharing Harry." Hermione explained.

"Care to elaborate?"

"You put the idea out there, even if in jest, for us to contemplate. Add that to Harry's nature where he doesn't want us to be unhappy, argue or get into a situation where we're forced into something we don't want."

"What are you saying?" Tracy asked. "I know we talked about this the other day but none of this came up. You never actually said anything, come to think of it."

"I wasn't ready. I was still working on my theories and needed to know more about the nature of the bond and how it would be affected by Harry and us.

"I believe that the bond is subtly guiding us and our emotions, encouraging us to fall for Harry. Harry, being the focus point and being very powerful, is having a strong influence. His nature is working for us in that he doesn't want any of us to be forced into something we don't want."

"That's very good to know." Tracy relied thoughtfully. "So any emotions we feel for him are going to be natural."

"They will definitely have a natural foundation. The bond created by the oath will encourage and strengthen them but cannot create them."

"It's nice to know that he really is such a nice guy." Daphne smiled at him softly.

"It's also works again us as well." Hermione added.

"How?" Tracy asked.

"Because he is so nice, generous and noble it's easier for us to feel positive emotions about him for the bond to work with."

"Oh." Tracy stopped to think. "Well, it could be much worse."

"It gets worse." Hermione continued. "Because he is so nice, he really wants all of us to get along. I think that's going to cause the bond reduce our inhibitions towards each other, like what we were talking about the other day."

"Sorry about that." Harry apologised.

"Don't worry about it." Tracy waved him off. "You shouldn't need to apologise for being nice and wanting your friends to get along. While I'm not so keen on the intimacy with the others, I like that we will all be friends."

"Two questions, if I may?" Padma lent forwards on her chair to address Hermione.

"Yes?" Hermione motioned for her to continue.

"You mentioned that the bond could be affected by us as well and how do you factor in the change in the bond since last night?"

"I think they both relate to our own personal acceptance of the bond and Harry. It's possible that our own emotions and acceptance will enhance that bond. By using the bond like we did last night we had to accept it and we strengthened it during the transfer or magic. I think that the more we use the bond and its capabilities the more hold it will have on us, possible to the point that the effects will remain even if you are released."

"Given how powerful Harry is I can believe that." Susan commented.

"I don't think it is quite as bad as it sounds, I think it will respect our views. Luna and Harry view each other as siblings. I believe that that connection could remain for the rest of their lives, even after they end the bond."

"So if we only see Harry as a friend then we will be best friends for the rest of our lives but the moment we see him as a potential husband, we may as well get married on the spot." Tracy paraphrased.

"Pretty well." Hermione nodded. "The only thing I'm not sure about is how our feelings towards each other will affect things. They may do nothing or they may influence us to be more intimate with each other."

"So if some of us become intimate with the other wives then the rest of us will be encouraged to follow." Padma asked trying to make sure she understood Hermione.

"I think so." Hermione replied to the Ravenclaw. "At the very least I think we will become very open towards Harry in each others presence."

"So if I start kissing Daphne I get to blame you two Gryffindors." Tracy suddenly grinned. "Excellent."

"That you'll be snogging Daphne or that you can blame something on Gryffindor?" Ginny asked grinning.

"Oh shut up. You know what I meant." Tracy relaxed and took on a contemplative expression. "It's actually rather reassuring. We aren't going to be forced into anything we don't want and we can be assured that any emotions are real, or at least strongly based on real emotions. I was afraid that we were going to be forced into loving Harry."

"You're not the only one who was concerned about that but I honestly do believe that we don't have anything to worry about in that regard." Hermione assured her.

They all relaxed back into the chairs when a stray though crossed Harry's mind.

"Daphne, when's your mother going to come and give us Occlumency lessons?" He queried.

The Slytherin sat up suddenly and sharply enough to cause her deck chair to jerk. "What is with me? She's going to come tomorrow afternoon around four. I've been meaning to tell you all day, I don't know why I keep forgetting?"

"That's okay. We know about it now." Harry reassured her.

"Luna? What about that article you were writing about you-know-who?" Hermione asked.

"I'm working on it. I'm not sure if I should just go with what we know or wait until we know more and publish it all." Luna replied, not looking up from her work.

"If you publish what you know now, you can publish more when we learn and verify it, making it a multi-part feature." Tracy offered.

Luna perked up. "Brilliant idea. Thanks."

"You're welcome." Tracy replied before suddenly jumping slightly. "It's time Hannah."

The two girls jumped up and ran off.

"Where are they going?" Harry asked.

"Probably the potion's lab. The potion must be ready." Daphne commented absently as she turned back to her notes.

"Cool. So we can try it today?" Harry brightened.

"Probably not." Hermione contradicted. "If I remember the notes correctly..."

"Like you'd get something like that wrong." Ginny snuck in a comment.

Hermione shot her house-mate a glare as she continued. "The potion needs to sit for at least fourteen hours before we can take it."

"That's right." Harry slumped. "I remember now. I just kept thinking about how long it would take to make."

"That's why you aren't very good at potions; you miss important details." Daphne told him.

Harry carefully focused on his notes.

"How did they know they it was finished now?" He asked absently.

"They use the Alarm charm."

"Huh?"

"You don't know the Alarm Charm?" Daphne was surprised. "It's a simple charm the signals you when a certain time is reached. Most people use it to wake up in the morning or make sure they get to classes or meetings on time."

"You'll have to teach me sometime."

!HPEaSE!

It was after dinner and the three Gryffindors had retired to Harry's room to do a little extra studying. Hermione was continuing Harry's lesson's in Runes and helping Ginny work through the fifth year DADA material.

Harry had headed down to the kitchen for a drink when he was stopped by Hermione's parents.

"Hello Harry. What are you doing?" Emily asked.

"Just getting a drink."

"You have your own kitchen you know."

Harry froze. "Yeah. I keep forgetting." He looked abashed.

"Don't worry. It's nice to see you." Emily smiled. "How are things going?"

"Okay I think." Harry paused. "Things are just so complicated. Daniel was a really big help today though."

"Good to know." Emily teased her husband.

"Hey!" He pushed her gently as she giggled.

"So Harry; tell us what is wrong. We may be able to help." Emily told Harry. "If we can't then we may at least be able to give you some perspective."

"It's this whole marriage thing." Harry slumped in a chair. "It's really hard to talk about it. It must be hard for you too. Your daughter's caught up in this. I'm surprised you haven't kicked me out yet."

"You don't have to worry about that." Daniel told him. "We may not like it but we recognise that you are not at fault and you are doing your best to respect hers and the other girl's wishes."

"How are things going with them? You all appear to be getting along." Emily asked.

"We are. They're all becoming really good friends. Their differences actually seem to complement each other." Harry replied.

"That's good." Emily smiled. "So where's the problem?"

"I don't know what to do." Harry looked down at his feet. "I just don't know what to do. How do we find out if we can be more than friends?"

"Muggles have a long standing tradition. It's called 'dating'." Daniel replied.

Harry huffed. "I know about dating. I just don't know how to do it. I've been on one date in my entire life and it ended in disaster."

"It can't be that bad." Emily protested.

"It ended the relationship for several reasons."

"You didn't spill anything on her did you?"

"No. I managed to avoid that. I think I even managed to avoid spilling anything on myself."

"It wasn't a total disaster then." Emily smiled gently. "You're all still young yet. These are the years where you learn how to date and interact on a more romantic level."

"I feel like I'm years behind everyone else though."

"You are." Emily answered.

Harry stared at her in shock. "What do you mean?"

"Hermione told us a bit about your life before Hogwarts." Emily explained. "You grew up without learning a lot of the basic social skills for interacting with people and many other things. You have to learn those first so of course you are behind. Don't worry too much about it though. We can help if you want and I know the girls going to."

"You can. Please don't make me help." Daniel protested.

"And why not?" Emily glared at her husband. "Don't you want to help him?"

"Of course I do. I just don't feel comfortable teaching him how to score with my teenage daughter." Daniel stood. "I know better than to stand in your way but please don't make me help."

"Alright." Emily relented. "I'll see you later."

Daniel left and Emily returned her attention to Harry.

"Harry? Why are you blushing?"

"No reason." Harry replied avoiding eye contact.

"Is it because Daniel was talking about you having sex with Hermione?"

Harry didn't reply but his deepening blush and the way he retreated further were answer enough.

"Normally I'd say you were a little young but Hermione is nearly seventeen and you've know each other for years so it's not like you're rushing into things. I know you'll treat her with respect and won't force her. Just take the proper precautions when you return to being male." Emily smiled gently. "I know you love her; even if you don't realise it yourself."

"Do I? I have no way of knowing."

"Give it time and you'll learn. I'm certain Hermione and the other girls will make sure of that." Emily paused. "By the way, have you ever received the Talk?"

"The Talk?" Harry was confused.

"The Talk. The birds and the bees? The explanation of what happens when your body matures and what is involved in having sex?"

"Uh. No." Harry retreated further into the chair.

"I didn't think so. That's okay. Give me a little time to get the material together and I will take care of it. I actually believe that it is traditional for a lot of alcohol to be involved when a father gives the Talk to a son. Given your situation I'd better do it but you don't have to miss out on the drinking." Emily hugged him. "You deserve every opportunity to do some things that you should've gotten to do with your parents."

"Thanks... I think." Harry wasn't quite able to enjoy the motherly hug due to a feeling of impending doom.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

It took a while to get this chapter out, I'm sorry but I have to feel it to work on it.

I've been getting some good feedback which is always great. This chapter will also answer a few questions most people have been having.

Happy reading.

**Chapter 15**

Harry was woken up early as Tracy rushed into his room.

"Harry! Wake up! This is important." Tracy disappeared momentarily to hammer on Hermione and Ginny's door.

Harry sat up and dragged himself out of bed as Tracy returned with a pair of sleepy Gryffindors.

"What is it?" Harry asked through a yawn.

"I woke up early and was reading a little until I fell asleep again when I found this." Tracy pulled a book out of her robe and opened it at a book marked page.

"I found this symbol in an old history book on the founders." Tracy showed the page containing a stylised S symbol. "This is the mark of Salazar Slytherin. It's the same symbol as the one on the locket we found."

"Okay. Important, but this important?" Hermione asked yawning.

"Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup. He's using the founder's items." Tracy insisted. "We have to find out more about the founders and their relics."

"I think that's a good starting point but I think there is more to it." Harry replied after some thought. "I think that the items he used are important to him. It's not just the founders. The diary is an indication of that."

"Still..."

"It is a good idea." Harry assured her. "We may find another Horcrux. I just think that the link is more personal to Voldemort rather than the founders, it was his diary after all."

Tracy slumped. "I thought I had a better lead than that."

"Don't worry about it. Start researching about the founders relics. Oh, and just so you know; Gryffindor's sword is clean."

"How do you know that?"

Harry stood and stepped back before summoning the sword. "I used it to kill Sally." He drew the sword and offered it to her hilt first.

Tracy looked it over reading the name inscribed into the blade, struggling slightly with the weight.

"Impressive. So we're only missing an item of Ravenclaw." Tracy handed the sword back.

Harry sheathed the blade and laid it down on the bed. "Padma and Luna may be able to help us on that."

Tracy nodded. "I'll let you get back to sleep."

Harry nodded. "Thanks. I could use the extra twenty minutes."

"Sorry. I'll see you later."

"Tracy?"

She paused in the door way. "Yes?"

"Good work. Thank you." Harry said sincerely.

"Thanks." Tracy smiled as she left.

"We'll go too. Catch you later." Ginny and Hermione left.

Harry didn't manage to get a little more sleep before his alarm went off. Yawning he grumbled a little at his disturbed sleep but wasn't angry at Tracy. The information she had brought could be very important.

His run to his martial arts lesson woke him up though and he quietly chatted to an invisible Tonks as he waited for his Sensei to arrive.

His Sensei arrived a few minutes later.

"Sorry I'm late." He called as he got out of his car. "New look? Nice."

He turned away, preventing Harry from responding, and opened the boot of his car. He pulled out a bag, followed by two poles and a large brown tube. He carried them over to Harry and set them down.

"I've had a few ideas so we aren't going to do any new kata's today. We'll do a review then move on to helping you control and focus your special abilities."

"Yes Sensei." Harry nodded.

"Let's begin."

After practicing the kata's for half an hour they moved on to a field and Harry watched as his sensei drove the poles into the ground and placed the brown tube, which turned out to be a roll of brown paper, in front of it and unrolled it, hooking the leading edge over the top of the poles.

"You are going to practice your punches again but I want you to focus on making them as small as possible." John instructed.

"As small as possible?"

"Yes. By making it smaller it requires more control. It will be more effective as a weapon as well." John explained. "By controlling the size of the area of impact you can increase the effectiveness of the blow without needing to increase the force of it."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "I understand."

He turned his attention to the wall of paper and focused on it attempting to make as small an impact area as possible.

It took a few attempts but he could see the size of the holes he was punching in the paper was reducing, he managed to down to a few inches. Much better than the three foot hole he started with.

"You're making good progress." John commented as he shifted the roll again to provide a fresh surface to aim at.

"Can I try something? My friend's father made a comment that's actually quite effective." Harry asked.

"Sure." John gestured for Harry to proceed.

Harry refocused on the target and tapped into his energy, charging the air around him. Striking out he rapidly created a series of one inch holes tracking neat lines back and forth across the surface of the paper. These slowly shrank as the rows tracked down the page until he reached half an inch.

"Impressive. That seems to be the best way of doing it." John finally managed to speak.

"I still think we should do it the way you suggested. I won't always have the time to prepare myself and it does help my speed and control to do it the harder way."

"Good. You understand how to improve." John nodded. "Let's move on. I want you to try focusing your energy through your movements. Not striking out using the air movement like you have been. Instead try enhancing your physical movements."

Harry nodded. "How do we do that?"

John opened the bag he brought and pulled out a set of pads. "You practice your punches on me. Try not to get carried away; I don't want any broken bones."

"I'll do my best Sensei."

John donned the pads and took a ready position. "Okay. Let's get started. Remember what I've taught you, plant your feet, put your whole body behind it and focus on striking past the target, not on the surface. Leave your energy out for the moment; we will add that when you are ready."

Harry nodded and took up his stance.

John called out attack patterns for Harry to follow, left and right combinations against various positions as he moved the pads around. Harry struck with all the force and accuracy he could, remembering his training for maximum effect.

"Very good Harry. Now try focusing a little of your energy through your body. You want to try and increase your speed, strength and toughness. Only a little bit of energy though."

Harry nodded and held the ready position, eyes closed, as he tried to follow his Sensei's instructions.

He was struggling. The light touch he had made to his core wasn't responding the way he wanted. Getting a firmer grasp on his core he began to feel an odd sensation throughout his body; his skin and muscles were tingling with energy. Harry lightened his touch on his core and the tingling faded but did not disappear.

Harry opened his eyes and focused on his Sensei, subconsciously taking his stance. "Ready."

John, waiting patiently, had gotten a little worried when he felt the air around Harry charge. As the charge receded his concern ebbed away.

He nodded at Harry's statement. "Begin."

Harry had gotten the technique right. John felt the blows hammer home harder and faster than before. He was glad Harry was holding back otherwise broken bones would be the least of his worries.

"Enough." John commanded finally. "Very well done, Harry. How do you feel?"

"Good." Harry shrugged. "It didn't feel like it took any real effort."

"Impressive. Let's work on your movements and reactions now. I am going to attack, you are to dodge only."

"Okay."

John launched a series of punches and kicks. He started relatively slowly to give Harry a change to get into the flow but as Harry easily avoided each strike with minimal movements he began to increase the speed and complexity of his attacks.

Harry avoided the simple blows with ease but had to throw himself aside when his Sensei performed a much faster combo that nearly caught him. Harry rolled to his feet as John closed again for another attack.

Harry was amazed at the speed and fluidity of his Sensei movements. Blows seemed to appear out of nowhere and Harry found himself tapping into more of his core to boost his speed enough to avoid the rapid strikes. Both Sensei and student were panting for breath when John finally ceased then exercise.

"Very good Harry." John complemented, sitting sown to get his breath back. "I noticed that you needed to tap into more of your energy part way through but you managed to avoid every strike. What I want you to work towards is being able to repeat that feat without needing your special ability to do so."

Harry nodded. "The better I am without it, the better I will be with it."

"Partly. The other part is so you remember what you can do without it and don't rely on it totally."

"I understand Sensei."

"Good. There is one more thing I want you to try before we finish today. It relate to the exercise you just did. I found a reference to a technique that allowed a person to jump across a short distance, only a few yards but still a useful distance in a fight. You basically move so fast you appear to have simple disappeared from one location and reappeared in another."

"Okay, have you any suggestions on how to do this Sensei?"

"The only thing I can suggest is to enhance yourself like you did in the previous exercise. This time focus more on your speed and push it through your legs as much as you feel is safe."

Harry nodded and stood. Repeating his previous focus he didn't suppress his energy after he felt his energy flow through his body, he pushed more. Enough that he had to pull back a bit before the tingling might turn into pain.

Seeing Harry's eyes open, John stood as well. "Focus on your destination and try to sort of jump to it as quickly as possible."

Harry focused on a point a dozen yards away and kicked of like he was about to start running. He touched down a couple of yards short of his intended target; with much more momentum than expected.

Harry wasn't sure if he tripped or slipped but he ended up tumbling on the ground past his target and ending up with a mouthful of grass.

John represses a chuckle as his student stood spitting out grass. "Are you alright Harry?"

"Yeah. I need to work on the landing."

"True, but that was a good first attempt. It wasn't instantaneous but it was significantly faster than normal. Keep practising."

It took Harry a few more attempts, and a couple more mouthfuls of grass, to keep his footing. When they ended the session he wasn't moving any faster but he was in more control of his landings.

"I think we should call it a day. Excellent progress, Harry." John complemented. "My only comment is regarding the effect of using your special ability. It is very obvious when you start tapping into your power.

"Try learning how to do it without creating the effect of charging the air around you. As intimidating as it can be, you can surprise your opponent more if they don't know. That charging may also be wasted or lost energy, so you could be conserving energy." John suggested as they tidied up.

"I'll work on it. Thank you Sensei." Harry bowed.

"See you tomorrow Harry." John dismissed him

Harry set a fast pace on his run home; it was the only way he could keep Tonks from laughing at him about the number of times he ate grass.

Winky appeared almost immediately after he got in the door, fussing over his grass stained clothing and demanding that he go to his room and shower so she could clean them.

!HPEaSE!

A clean and mostly dry Harry, dressed in a clean set of exercise clothes, made his way down to the kitchen for breakfast.

As he passed the lounge, Hermione noticed and called out to him to join them. Waving in acknowledgement, Harry quickly made some breakfast and grabbed a drink before heading to join them.

"Morning, Harry." Emily greeted him. "What do you have planned for today?"

"We have our training with the Auror's this morning and Daphne's mother is coming this afternoon for our Occlumency training." Harry replied between mouthfuls.

"Nothing else planned?" Emily asked with a teasing grin. "Nothing to allow you to get to know some certain people a little better?"

Harry growled as he took another mouthful.

"What's this all about?" Hermione asked.

"Just a conversation I had with Harry last night." Emily replied evasively.

"Surely you can tell us more than that." Ginny prompted.

Harry relented. "I expressed my concerns about not knowing how to get to know everyone one better."

"I suggested that he take you all out on dates." Emily finished.

"That's a nice idea." Hermione commented. "How were you planning on doing it?"

"I have absolutely no idea." Harry shrugged. "If you recall, my one and only experience at dating didn't go so well."

"That wasn't entirely your fault. I think it should be a mix of one-on-one dates and group outings." Hermione said thoughtfully. "How about we all go to a movie tonight?"

"That sounds like a great idea." Harry nodded enthusiastically. "I've never gone before.

"Done. You'd better tell Kingsley that we're going out tonight so he can organise our guards." Hermione instructed.

"Okay." Harry nodded again. "I hope they'll like the movie too."

"I'm sure they will. I'll try to pick something everyone will like."

"Neat. This should be fun." Ginny said excitedly.

"Yes, a wonderful way to end the day after getting physically and mentally pummelled." Harry groaned slightly.

"Don't say that Harry." Ginny complained. "I'm trying not to think about it too much. As good as these lessons are, they're really hard."

"Tell me about it."

"As long as they help you survive you can just shut and learn." Hermione glared at her two friends. "I refuse to lose either one of you."

Harry and Ginny shared a glance before snapping to attention and saluting her. "Yes Ma'am."

Hermione stifled a laugh and tried to remain serious. "Very good. Dismissed. You have your lesson soon and you need to get ready."

They all laughed and parted company.

Having readying themselves for their lessons with the Aurors, Harry and Ginny were walking down to the World Room.

"Have you noticed the changes in Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, she seems much more relaxed. And more... girly? Is that the right word?"

"Dunno, but it's accurate." Ginny paused in thought. "I think she doesn't feel totally relaxed in the Wizarding World. Maybe it's the whole being muggle-born or being in school, I don't know but this Hermione just seems much happier. I like her like this."

"Me too. She's still the Hermione we know but..."

"Yeah. I can't quite put my figure on it either." Ginny opened the door to the World Room. "Well, time to get pummelled."

"That's reassuring." Susan said having over heard Ginny's last words.

"I know." Ginny shot back brightly.

"Now that we're all here." Kingsley spoke loudly to prevent an argument. "I have some news for you all, Harry in particular. The trial for Umbridge has been scheduled for tomorrow at 10 am. Fudge let us know half an hour ago. I think he's trying to improve his chances of an acquittal by reducing the amount of time we have to prepare. Fortunately Amelia is one step ahead of him there."

"Good." Harry nodded thoughtfully. "What can we do to help?"

"We have two main concerns. The trial will be by full Wizengamot so we'll need as many friendly members as possible and we need to be ready for him to change the time of the trial. He has to give at least thirty minutes notice to the start of the trial but it's possible for these notices to go awry."

"I know. He did that to me for my trial last year." Harry commented absently. "Tonks, I'll need to talk to your mother about the proxy documents. We should have someone keeping an eye on the trial time so we can be notified if it changes."

"Very good." Kingsley smiled. "That's exactly what we are going to do but the additional supporting Wizengamot members will help."

"I'll talk to mum right after our training. She'll have the documents ready by tonight." Tonks added.

"Good. So, do you two have to be on duty during the trial or can you stand in for the Potter and Lestrange seats?" Harry asked grinning.

"You want us to sit in for you in the Wizengamot?" Tonks stared at Harry in shock.

"That is unexpected, and surprisingly generous." Kingsley added.

"I trust you." Harry shrugged. "I figure Tonks can change her appearance enough so that no one will know who she actually is. That way the soon to be former Lestrange's won't know who to get angry at."

"Good idea." Tonks nodded. "Mum should be able to help me get the act right, she's still a Black at heart when she needs to be."

"Anything else?" Kinsley asked.

"Just that Hermione wanted us all to go to a movie tonight so we're going to need an escort." Harry told him. "She promised to try and pick a movie we'll all like if that helps?"

"Glad to hear it." Kingsley chuckled at Harry's last comment. "That shouldn't be an issue. Should be a good bit of fun before tomorrow's nastiness. And it will get nasty, Harry. Fudge is going to have you pushed to the limit. You are going to have to keep your temper under control."

"Nothing will help our case more that you remaining calm while Fudge loses it." Hestia spoke up. "And nothing will hurt it if more that you losing your temper."

"I understand." Harry took a deep breath. "I'll do my best not to let you down."

"I know." Kingsley smiled reassuringly. "Now, let's get started. You all did really well on Monday. I can see you all have a lot of potential but you will have to work hard to use it fully. We will start with some more physical training and finish with silent casting and learning new spells. We need to build up the core combat spells in your repertoire."

"So, no duelling practice today?" Susan asked.

"Nope. We'll save that for Monday's. If this trial goes as planned I may not have time to join in your training but I will be here for you Monday duelling, if only to keep my own skills up to scratch. You're not there yet but you have the potential to be one of the best. I could see how much you improved during just that one match."

"Thanks." Harry looked a little embarrassed at the praise. "I know I have a lot to learn."

"So." Tonks clapped her hands together. "Let's get started. Start running before I hex you."

There was a quick glance between the five Hogwarts students before they made a dash down the stairs and out of the building into the wide expanse of the World Room followed by the three Aurors.

After a series of running and physical exercises that left Harry and the four girls flat on their backs in exhaustion they stretched and began the spell casting portion of the session. They had all made improvements since last time that were obvious to the Aurors and were picking up the new spells quickly.

"You've all improved more than I expected since last time." Kingsley commented thoughtfully. "You've been doing extra training."

"Of course." Harry shrugged. "Did you expect otherwise?"

"No." Kingsley said simply. "I'm just impressed how dedicated you are. What were you working on specifically?"

"Casting speed and accuracy."

"Can you give me a demo? We're done for the day and I'd like to see how you manage to improve so much so quickly."

"Sure, this way." Harry led them to the small hill where the clay pigeon traps were still setup.

Setting up a clay pigeon in the trap, Harry looked at the four girls to see who was going to go first.

Ginny jumped forward immediately followed by Luna and they pulled their wands and set themselves ready to cast.

They both told Harry they were ready and to fire. "And don't you dare pull the trick that Mr Granger pulled on you." Ginny added, firing a brief but sharp glare at him.

Harry just grinned and release the clay. "Fire!"

The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw cast at the fast moving target and, while neither managed to hit it, they came very close. Close enough that if it was a person they would have been hit.

"Okay, 'this' is good." Kingsley looked and sounded impressed. "I'd never have thought of this. Can I have a go?"

"Sure." Ginny nodded and stepped aside with Luna.

Kingsley, Tonks and Hestia all took a few turns each but only Kingsley actually managed to hit the clay. Once. After a few attempts.

"That's quite a challenge." Kingsley said approvingly. "Keep it up; you're going to improve a lot doing this. I wonder what else you're going to come up with. I may need to talk Amelia into revamping the entire Auror training program after you lot finish your training."

"Whatever we can do to cause you more work." Ginny teased.

Tonks laughed and Hestia stifled a chuckle while Kingsley glared at the young red-head.

"We should go." Tonks caught the senior Auror's arm and dragged him away. "I'll call back later, you can tell me the movie time then so we can meet you with the car."

"Okay. Not staying for lunch?" Harry asked.

"It's a little early. Later." Tonks waved.

"So, what now?" Daphne asked.

"Play time?" Luna looked hopeful.

They laughed.

"I think a short talk is in order." Harry looked thoughtful. "Something we all need to think about. We should join the others."

"Can we shower first?" Susan asked.

"That's a good idea." Ginny replied.

"Unless you all just want to jump in the river?" Luna piped up.

"Umm. Let me think. No!" Daphne glared at the younger Ravenclaw.

"Okay." Luna skipped off.

"I don't know if I like her or she annoys me." Daphne watched her disappear of as she walked after her with the others.

"That's just Luna" Ginny replied. "Don't take her to seriously, most of the time anyway."

Showered and changed they found the others together in the private courtyard, dressed in their swimwear and relaxing in the sun.

"Umm. If I could have everyone's attention..." Harry spoke hesitantly.

"Of course." Hermione put her book down and gave him her undivided attention along with everyone else.

"Thanks to Tracy, we may have another lead on a Horcrux. She identified the locket we found as belonging to Salazar Slytherin. I think we will find a lead on another item by looking for other relics of the Founders, most likely Ravenclaw." Harry spoke, gaining confidence as he went.

"Way to go Tracy." Daphne applauded her friend.

"Thanks." Tracy smiled. "Although Harry made a good point in that we may be looking items of importance to you-know-who more than the Founders."

"Depends on how important Hogwarts was to him." Luna commented.

They stared at her. "That fits actually." Tracy said. "We need to research you-know-who a lot more."

"Dumbledore probably has all that information." Harry told them. "It's just getting it out of him that's going to be the problem. Hogwarts probably does house a Horcrux, it was very important to him. I think we will have to re-search the Chamber again to make sure."

"And if it's not there?" Hannah asked.

"We search the whole castle." Padma answered. "With the nine of use and Harry's map we should be able to cover the whole castle quickly. The detection spells Daphne found will make the search much quicker and easier."

"I agree." Harry nodded at the dark skinned Ravenclaw. "We'll just need to plot the most efficient way of performing the search. If we find potential sites outside of Hogwarts during the term, I'm sure that Bill, Kingsley and the others will be willing to check them out for us."

"We could hire goblins for additional security so they will be safe." Daphne suggested.

"Maybe. We don't want to tip Voldemort off about our actions." Hermione countered. "We can sneak out if we have to. If we can get taught how to Apparate or to make Portkeys then we can be there and back without much chance of being missed."

"And if they are looking towards Hogwarts for us, they may miss our external activities." Tracy nodded. "We just need to keep hidden when we leave and return."

"Sounds like a plan." Susan approved. "Anything else?"

"When do we take the Animagus potion?" Hannah asked. "It's all ready for us."

"After lunch?" Daphne suggested. "Mother won't be here till four for our Occlumency lessons so we will have three or so hours."

"More than enough." Tracy said. "It should take less than an hour."

"I'll put a galleon on Harry taking longer." Ginny challenged.

"Oi." Harry protested.

"Sorry Harry, but that just the way you are. Always breaking the rules." Ginny grinned back unrepentantly.

Harry just huffed at her and called for Dobby. "Can you bring us lunch please?"

"Yes, Master Harry. I wills be right back." Dobby popped away.

"So, where do we take the potion? It knocks us out or put us in a trance or something, doesn't it?" Harry asked.

"Correct. Somewhere safe I think, probably indoors, where we won't be disturbed." Tracy said. "Hannah and I tested it so we know it's made properly so we won't be in any danger."

"How about Harry's room?" Luna suggested. "His bed is big enough for all of us to lie on."

They all looked surprised but agreed so half an hour later, full from the House-elves generous meal they gathered on Harry's bed, each holding a small vial of the potion.

"Well, down the hatch." Ginny raised her vial in a salute to the others and downed it. Seconds later she fell back on the bed unconscious.

Harry returned her salute and followed suit and lay back as his vision darkened into blackened haze.

As the haze began to clear, Harry could make out a barren wasteland stretching off into the distance. The haze didn't clear completely, it clung to the barren ground like a noxious miasma. Harry stood looking around, wondering what to do next. He blushed as he looked down and caught sight of his bare breasts and realised that he was standing there naked.

There was a movement off to the left and Harry spun to face it, watching warily as a tall shadow began to form. Harry was about to tap into his power to run or fight when the shadow seemed to step out from the haze and revealed itself to be a beautiful Unicorn mare. Harry relaxed and smiled as the magnificent animal walked up to him and gently reached out with her nose to nuzzle him. Harry gently began stroking the Unicorn's long face and neck and felt the incredibly soft glossy hair under his fingers. The unicorn obviously liked Harry paying it attention as she leant into his fingers wanting more.

After a few minutes of stroking the Unicorn pulled back slightly, turned and crouched, indicating with a toss of her head that she wanted Harry to ride her. Harry hesitated before swinging a leg over her back, feeling the soft coat stroking him along his thighs, and steadying himself using her neck. With him safely seated, the Unicorn rose and turned to head back into the haze.

The gentle movement of the Unicorn he was astride was causing a number of sensations making him fully aware of his naked female body, causing him to flush deeply. He focused on his dingy surroundings to distract himself from the sensations and found the distraction more than sufficient when a powerful looking Lioness stepped out of the shadows to sit and look at him as he passed. The great cat had a distinct reddish tinge to her coat and seemed totally lacking in hostility as she sat watching him pass.

Another animal appeared, this time a small house cat with sleek dark grey-brown fur and a slightly bushy tail. The cat sat in a proper fashion and watched as he pasted as well. As another animal became visible, Harry realised that he was being led down a line of them and that he was probably safe. A very thankful thought given the lioness behind him and the sleek Black Panther he was now looking at.

The black furred great cat was followed by a cheerful German Sheppard, a very large Bengal Tiger lying sedately, a Humming bird with brightly coloured feathers, a Beagle whose white spots had a slight blond tinge and, most surprisingly, very long Boa Constrictor with dark markings. As the Unicorn moved past the snake Harry looked around for the next animal to appear and spotted a tallish shape in front of him. The Unicorn stopped and Harry got the impression he was to dismount and swung a leg around to slide off the back of the Unicorn on his stomach. He forgot about the effect his breasts would have as they were first squashed between himself and silkily soft hair of his steed causing a massive feelings to burst through him and then were set bouncing as he thudded to the ground.

Harry tried to calm himself, the sensations and feeling he had gotten during the ride and his dismount were unfamiliar to him, although they had a familiar undertone that set him flushing in embarrassment.

A quick glance back and he saw all eight animals he had just passed sitting in a half circle behind the Unicorn. The Unicorn nudged him on the shoulder, indicating that he should keep moving. Harry turned to face the shadow and walked forward. Now that he wasn't mounted on the Unicorn he could tell it was a similar height to himself. Something that became fully understandable as he moved through the haze and got a clear look at what was casting the shadow. Himself.

Harry looking in surprise at his own naked body in front of him and realised that that body was male instead on the female body he currently had. With a smile the male Harry bowed and stepped aside to reveal three more shadows behind him.

Harry gave a nod to his male form and continued forward, curious to see what he would encounter next. What he found gave him the biggest shock of all. A large Stag that looked identical to his Patronus except a real animal and a large Grim-like black dog that was all too familiar, Padfoot. That would mean the Stag was Prongs, Harry realised and he gazed upon his father's Animagus form in surprise and delight.

Tearing his gaze from the Stag he looked at the source of the third shadow. A White Siberian Tiger with vivid green eyes. Harry stared at it trying to understand what he was seeing. If it was with his father's and godfather's Animagus forms then could this be his mother's form? Harry wasn't sure his mother was ever an animagus but became determined to find out.

The three animals walked towards him and stopped before him momentarily, long enough for him to give each of them a stroke before joining the Unicorn behind him. Harry looked ahead and found another shadow moving, this one towered over him and was truly massive. Harry fell back in fear until he was standing between the Unicorn and White Tiger who gazed at him reassuringly.

Recovering his composure and finding new courage from the animals arrayed around him Harry straightened and faced the massive beast approaching him and was shocked as the largest dragon he had ever seen walked out of the haze to stop in front of him and bend its long neck down to place its large jaws right in front of Harry. This dragon was very different to the Horntail he had flown against during the tournament, Harry realised. Not just bigger but the scales seemed heavier, giving the dragon a more aggressive appearance. The other main difference was the four legs it was walking on. The wings were folded against its back rather than spread to assist its movement along the ground.

Harry and the dragon stared at each other for what seemed like ages before the dragon dipped its head to Harry slightly in acknowledgement and Harry found his vision blacking out again.

!HPEaSE!

Hermione woke to hear someone humming and looked at her watch. Forty three minutes had passed since she had taken the potion.

"Did you have a nice nap?" Susan asked.

"Yes. I dreamt of a nice cat. An Abyssinian if I'm not mistaken." Hermione looked really happy.

"Nice. I'm a German Sheppard."

"Beagle." Hannah spoke up making Hermione aware of her presence and nodded to a humming Luna. "She's a Humming bird if you were wondering."

"So, she's practicing then?" Hermione quirked.

Luna nodded cheerfully but didn't stop humming.

Tracy woke next and sat up with a huge smile.

"Wow. I've never seen you look so happy." Hannah commented.

"I'm a snake. I'm a really big Boa Constrictor. Perfect for a Slytherin." Tracy chirped.

"You'll be able to have nice conversations with Harry then." Hermione smiled at the nearly bouncy Slytherin.

"That's right. He's a Parcelmouth." Tracy looked thoughtful. "He doesn't make much noise about it. I barely noticed him using it when we went to the Chamber of Secrets."

"Most people are uncomfortable about it and it sounds a little creepy to be honest."

Padma woke up and interrupted them. "That was unexpected."

"What was?" Hermione asked.

"I saw a Bengal Tiger lounging on the branch of a tree in an elegant palace courtyard."

"I would never have expected that." Tracy looked the Indian girl over. "Nice kitty."

Padma faked a snarl and clawed at her. "Watch it." She grinned.

"So we have two cats, two dogs, a snake and a bird." Susan added up the animals so far.

"Interesting spread. And Luna, can you please stop that humming?" Tracy complained to the humming Ravenclaw.

"But I need to practice for when I perfect my form." Luna protested.

"Humming bird." Susan said dryly to Tracy's questioning look.

"Oh, for goodness sake." Tracy rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Wow." Daphne started and sat up. "That's big cat."

Tracy was about to ask when Ginny started moving also. "Wow. How long was I out for?"

"Fifty six minutes. You're the last one except for Harry." Hermione answered.

"Looks like I'll win the bet then." Ginny looked around at everyone. "I'm a Lioness. What's everyone else?"

"Okay, not quite so a big cat." Daphne replied. "I'm a black panther."

!HPEaSE!

It was another two hours before Harry started stirring. Tracy had been casting diagnostic spells on him to check him every half hour to make sure he was fine and hadn't found anything to worry about.

They had been swapping forms and even been discussing the environments they had found them in. There had been forests and fields and other places but when Hermione finally admitted her form had been in a library they all laughed at how fitting it was. Hermione had protested a little but joined in the laughter.

Harry woke to the sound of the girls chatting happily. He sat up and pulled his knees to his chest, leant his arms on them and rested his head on his forearms.

"You okay Harry?" Ginny asked softly.

"Yeah. Just received a bit of a shock." Harry mumbled.

"What happened? You were out for nearly three hours."

"Really?" Harry's head came up to look at her. "Guess you won your bet then."

"Yep."

"So, what's your form?" Daphne asked. "Luna's the smallest, Padma is the most unexpected and we aren't sure whether she or Ginny is the biggest."

"I think I may take at least two of those." Harry replied. "I saw fourteen different forms."

"Fourteen? That's impossible." Tracy half shouted in shock.

Harry just looked at her.

"Yeah, right. I forgot who I was talking to. Sorry. Fourteen you said?"

"First I was met by Unicorn..."

"Ooh. Wow." Susan gushed suddenly. "Oh, umm. Sorry." She blushed at her outburst.

"It's okay." Harry waved it off.

"I think you have the most unexpected form." Daphne commented. "Please continue."

"I'm just getting started. The Unicorn wanted me to ride her and led me down a line of other animals. There was a Lioness, a small cat, a Panther, a Tiger, a German Sheppard, a Beagle, a Humming Bird and a Boa Constrictor." Harry paused at the looks of shock on the girls faces. "What?"

"You just described each of our forms." Hermione explained. "I'm the cat, Ginny's the Lioness, Daphne's the Panther, Padma's the Tiger, Susan and Hannah are the dogs, Tracy is the snake and Luna's the bird."

"Wow. So I could have access to each of your forms. Another side effect of the oath you all took?"

"Probably." Susan answered. "That's only nine, what are the other five?"

"Next I found myself as a male, so I assume that I'll be able to return to my male body temporarily at least."

"That's really good news. You should be able to live a relatively normal life again once you master it." Hermione grasped his hands excitedly.

"Yeah. But that's not the biggest shock." Harry paused to arrange his words. "You know how Dumbledore was going on about how my mother's sacrifice for me left me with protection from Voldemort."

Hermione and Ginny nodded while the others looked interested.

"We do now." Daphne replied.

"Yeah, sorry. There's still a few things to tell you. I'm not trying to hide things it just that there're a lot of things to catch you up on."

"And you can't remember them all." Daphne smiled. "Don't worry about it. We'll ask when we need to."

"Thanks. Well, about that, he didn't seem to think that my father and godfather who also risked and lost their lives to protect me might not have the same effect. I saw both my father's and godfather's Animagus forms and another that I'm sure is my mothers."

"So a Stag, a Black dog and...?" Ginny prompted.

"A White Siberian Tiger."

"Wow."

"I never knew you parents were Animagus?" Susan commented. "And Auntie never mentioned Sirius Black being one either."

"They were unregistered. Dad and Sirius learnt at Hogwarts. I assume Dad taught Mum when they were dating or married."

"You must be excited to learn that." Hannah smiled.

"Yeah."

"There's still one more." Padma looked really interested.

"Oh, that one. Nothing much. Just a dragon." Harry replied nonchalantly.

Pause.

"A dragon?" The words exploded for the lips of most of the girls.

"What sort?" Ginny asked excitedly.

"I don't know. I've never seen one like it before. It was much bigger than that Horntail from the Triwizard Tournament. And it had four legs not two. Looked much nastier too."

"Wow. I don't know what sort it is either." Ginny said. "I'll send Charlie a letter and see if he know's something."

"Thanks."

"Charlie is?" Susan asked.

"Another brother, the second oldest. He works in Romania at a dragon preserve." Ginny explained.

"Which is why you want to send him a letter." Daphne nodded.

"So, how do we proceed?" Padma asked.

"We work in pairs." Tracy spoke firmly. "We all learn the spells to reverse the transformation and work in pairs, taking turns, so we all have someone right there to reverse the transformation if something goes wrong."

"I like it." Hermione nodded. "This is risky enough. That will reduce the risk a huge amount."

"I agree." Harry said. "You can teach them to us tomorrow after the trial. I don't know how much time we are going to have after the trial ends but we should have some of the afternoon."

"That sounds good..." Ginny stopped as Dobby appeared.

"Excuse me Master Harry, Lady Greengrass is here." Dobby bowed. "She is waiting for you in the Lounge

"Time for our Occlumency lesson." Daphne rolled round and got up off the bed. "Come on, we had best not keep Mother waiting."

"I hope this goes better than my last lesson." Harry groaned as he and the rest of the girls followed Daphne.

"I guess you're about to find out." Daphne called back over her shoulder.

"Good afternoon everyone." Lady Greengrass greeted them as they entered the Lounge. "I hope you are all well."

"Yes Mother." Daphne answered for the group.

"Well, take a seat so we can get started, we have a lot to cover. We will start with clearing your mind." Lady Greengrass instructed. "This is done by meditation. Close your eyes and focus on the darkness, trying not to think of anything."

"Already you are doing better than my last teacher." Harry commented as he relaxed back into his seat and closed his eyes.

"So I've heard." Lady Greengrass replied. "Once your mind is relaxed I will need to look more closely."

They sat in silence for about half-an-hour.

"How is everyone doing?"

"It's not easy." Hermione complained slightly. "I'm always thinking about things."

"It takes practice." Susan replied. "It's really an exercise in awareness and control over your thoughts. It allows you to detect when someone is trying to read them and you memories."

"Who here has had Occlumency lessons before, apart from my Daughter and Harry." Lady Greengrass.

"My Aunt has been teaching me." Susan spoke up.

"I thought as much. Can you and Daphne walk the others through the early steps? I really need to see what sort of state Harry's mental shields are in."

"Yes Mother." Daphne replied.

"Come Harry." With a flick of her wand, Lady Greengrass floated a pair of chairs to a corner. "Sit and look me in the eyes. I'm not going to look for any memories, just assess the state of you mind. Hopefully you will feel my presence and instead of fighting me, just follow me."

"Okay." Harry nodded as he sat.

He took a deep breath and looked Daphne's mother straight into the soft brown eyes they shared.

Lady Greengrass didn't bother with the incantation and gently touched his mind, letting him know of her presence. There was a moment of resistance before she felt Harry's barrier relax and allow her past. She let herself get lost in Harry's mind and visualised opening her mind's eye. What she saw shocked her. It was desolate and barren. A dark haze covered everything, blocking much of the mindscape from view.

Harry felt the gentle touch as she approached his mind and managed to relax to allow her entry. As per her instructions he let his mind follow her presence and found himself back in the barren wasteland he had seen while looking for his Animagus forms.

He found himself standing naked next to a clothed Lady Greengrass. The normally composed woman looked horrified as she noticed his presence.

"How are you still sane? You mind has taken so much damage. I'm surprised you could even provide any resistance the gentle probe I used."

"I'm more interested in how you managed to appear with clothes." Harry looked a little envious as he crosses his arms over his bare and ample chest reflectively.

"Your mindscape tends to strip away the illusions we hide ourselves behind. With practice you can reapply some of them. That is a lesson for later though, now we need to start healing you." She looked around sadly. "I don't know if I'm good enough to help you. What happened to you?"

"Snape's lessons would have started it though I don't think being possessed by Voldemort would have helped." Harry replied in an offhand manner as he surveyed his damaged mind. "So, where do we start?"

"Could you please show me one of those lessons?"

"Sure, if you tell me how."

"Just focus on the memory and will it to appear here."

Harry did so and Lady Greengrass watched in shock at the 'lesson'.

"That is appalling. Yes, both parts of the lesson are valid teaching techniques but they are at the opposite end of the spectrum. He basically tortured you. He should not be using full-fledged attacks until your mental walls are fully developed and that takes time. Were all his lessons like that?"

"Yep. That was the first one actually."

"No wonder your mind is such a mess."

"Can we fix it?" Harry looked hopeful.

"Yes. First we need to clear up this haze." Lady Greengrass schooled her expression back to her normal composure as she started instructing Harry.

They had made good progress. The haze was gone and the barren ground was beginning to show life again. Lady Greengrass was looking tired.

"I'm sorry. I have to stop. I'm getting too tired to continue." She apologised.

"That's okay. Go. I'll just do a bit more first before I finish." Harry said absently as he focused on what he was doing.

"Make sure it is just a little while. You can't do this too quickly or you could cause more damage."

"I'll be careful."

Lady Greengrass took one last look around the healing mindscape and cancelled the spell, feeling herself return to her own mind. She rested there for a bit, allowing some energy to return and her mind to calm itself against the horror she had just seen before waking up.

"Welcome back Mother." Daphne greeted her when she noticed that she was looking around. "How's he doing?"

"Both better and worse than expected." Lady Greengrass sighed. "He is healing but he has a long way to go. I don't think I could ever believe that a mind could be that damaged and still function."

"Harry was never one to be confined by normal limitations." Hermione commented. "In some ways he's the strongest person we are ever likely to meet."

"I can believe it." Lady Greengrass looked back to where Harry was still in a trance. "How long were we working?"

"Nearly an hour."

"Longer that I thought, no wonder I'm so tired. Harry must be very powerful to be able to keep going."

"You have no idea." She girls shared a grin amongst themselves.

Lady Greengrass stared at her daughter, trying to decide if she wanted to ask the question she was dreading the answer to. She decided against it and went on to a safer topic, hopefully. "Your Father told me that Harry had a magnificent room here I should look at, may I see it?"

"Sure." Daphne glanced at Ginny and Hermione for approval. Getting a nod she gestured towards the door.

The two crossed the hall to World Room and Daphne opened the door with a flourish. "Welcome to the World Room."

A slight expression of disappointment flitted across Lady Greengrass's face as she entered the room. Then she gasped and hurried with unladylike quickness to the window to look out at the wide expanse.

"Is that real?"

"Yep." Daphne grinned at her mother's flustered expression. "Would you like to take a walk?"

"Please."

!HPEaSE!

Harry blinked and shook himself. "I actually feel better. Is Lady Greengrass still around? I'd like to thank her."

"I think she's still here. She and Daphne went to the World Room." Susan replied. "I'm glad you're feeling better. She was saying that you had taken a lot of damage."

"Yeah. I never realised how much until we started healing it." Harry stood and stretched. "I'll just go find them. Hermione, we need to leave for the movie soon don't we?"

"We have a little bit of time yet." Hermione replied. "Tonks and the others should be here soon though. She never got back on how her mother was doing on those documents though."

"Okay. Do we have a final plan to handle Narcissa?"

"We have a plan." Tracy grumbled. "I don't know if it will work though."

"I have faith you."

"Thanks." Tracy relaxed and cheered up at Harry's unfailing display of confidence in her.

They headed over to the World Room as a group and looked out the Club House window trying to spot the Greengrass's. They spotted them on the coastal side heading them back towards the Club House and the link to the Real World.

"Hello." Harry ran up to greet them. "Lady Greengrass. I just want to say thank you for your help. I really do feel much better. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Lady Greengrass gave him a relaxed smile, warmth crossing her features as opposed to her normal passive expression. "I was glad to be able to help as much as I did. Keep working at it, just be careful not to go too quickly or you risk hurting yourself more."

"I'll be careful. Very careful." Harry added when she gave him a stern look.

Her smile returned. "Daphne and Susan will be able to guide you all for the time being. I'll come back next week to give another lesson when you're all more practiced with the initial steps."

"I look forward to seeing you again." Harry gave her a short bow.

Lady Greengrass curtseyed gracefully in return. "It may be sooner than you think. This is a magnificent room you have here."

"I'm quite pleased with it myself." Harry looked around.

"Goodbye Harry, I will see you next time." She kissed her daughter's cheek and headed out of the room, bidding farewell to the other girls as she passed.

"Are you really doing better?" Daphne asked quietly.

"Why does no one ever believe me when I say I'm fine or I'm feeling better?" Harry complained.

"Because your definition of 'fine' includes 'almost dead' and 'feeling better' means you 'might' not die." Hermione shot back at him.

"I'm not that bad." Harry protested.

"Yes, you are." Hermione stated glaring at him. "And we're all going to keep on you until you really are alright."

"So get used to it." Ginny added firmly.

Harry opened his mouth to reply but grunted as Daphne elbowed him. He turned to protest to her but was elbowed again.

"Why don't you shut up and change so we can go." Daphne stared him down.

"Okay." Harry said meekly and hurried off.

"He can be so much hard work some times." Daphne grizzled after Harry was out of sight.

"You have no idea how much work it is keeping him and Ron out of trouble." Hermione said.

"It's not really Harry's fault though." Ginny carried on. "Trouble just seems to hunt him down."

"I'm beginning to see that. Did I do that right?" Daphne looked concerned.

"Yes. You did great." Hermione reassured her. "Strong and firm. He's only ever going to angry about you looking out for him if you go behind his back to do it. To his face is fine, especially when he knows you're right."

Hermione and Ginny each caught one of the Slytherin girl's arms and led her out of the World Room after Harry.

"You lot coming?" Hermione called back over her shoulder starting a mass exodus as they went to change for the movie.

!HPEaSE!

Tonks was waiting in the upstairs living area for Harry as the girls gathered for their night out.

"Hi Harry. Looking good." Tonks greeted her Head of Family.

"Thanks." Harry was wearing a knee length blue patterned skirt and a white shirt. "I actually picked this one myself for a change. Hermione usually gets Winky to put something out for me. Or does it herself."

"You look good." Hermione looked him over. "You actually voluntarily chose to wear a skirt?"

Harry looked a little uncomfortable prompting Hermione to glare firmly, silently demanding answers.

Harry relented. "Okay, I've got shorts on underneath. Live with it." He growled.

Hermione chuckled. "I can. Shall we go?"

"In a minute." Tonks stopped them. "Mum's working on the documents you need but they are taking longer than expected. She is trying to make sure they are iron-clad and there is some legal language she has to get right. She will be done tonight though."

"Good. We are going to try and get Narcissa to see the light tonight as well. If you check on your mother after the movie and bring Narcissa back with you. Unconscious preferably."

"Easily done." Tonks clapped her hands together. "Now, let's go. I'm curious to see which movie Hermione picked out."

"I hope everyone likes it." Hermione looked a little worried.

"I'm sure it will be fine." Susan caught her arm.

The group left the living area and headed downstairs to leave the extension. They met up with Kingsley and Hestia and soon were in the Ministry car and heading towards the movie theatre.

They waded through the crowded theatre complex to buy the tickets and snacks before heading to their seats to await the beginning of the movie.

The movie Hermione had chosen, Dragonheart, was a hit. The girls from the wizarding world were lost in the story of the friendship between the last dragon and the disillusioned knight and were in tears when the dragon past away at the end.

"Wow. That was amazing. How did they do that?" Hannah was pestering Hermione.

"I don't know. Probably something involving computer special effects." Hermione guessed. "I'm not up on their current techniques. They call it 'Movie Magic' though."

"I really enjoyed it. Thank you for bringing us along." Daphne thanked Hermione. "Please feel free to find more movies to show us."

"Perhaps we'll rent the Star Wars trilogy when Harry's entertainment unit arrives. There are hundreds of movies that you'll probably like."

"I look forward to seeing them." Daphne grinned suddenly. "I imagine that our rooms at your place will be used a lot more now."

"Probably." Hermione grinned back.

"Harry?" A woman's voice stopped their progress.

Harry looked round. "Kate? Good to see you again."

"You too. I nearly didn't recognise you with the different hair colour. Red looks good on you." Kate Anderson greeted her friend.

"Thanks. We were playing around the other day and tried this; it's a similar colour to what my mother's was."

"It works on you, especially with your eyes. Are these your friends?"

"From school, yeah." Harry introduced all his friends. "And this is my distant cousin Tonks." He finished.

"Tonks?" Kate looked amused.

"If your first name was like mine, you wouldn't like it either." Tonks growled. "How did you two meet?"

"She's a student of the Martial Arts master I study under. She was the one who showed me the first kata when I was trying it out. She's one of his regular students."

"So you are continuing with your lessons." Kate commented happily. "I'm glad. You showed a lot of potential. When are your classes?"

"Weekday mornings. I have private lessons with him."

"Every morning? That's more than I expected." Kate looked amazed. "I was hoping you would join my group. Why so much?"

"I go to a boarding school so I have to do as much as possible now and I'll just practice it during the year."

"Fair enough. I wish I could stay and chat but I've got to hunt down my little sister before my big sister arrives."

"Have fun." Harry teased her as they looked around the crowded foyer.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the bushy bookworm." A snide voice interrupted them.

"And there she is." Kate growled.

Hermione was glaring at another girl about her age who was with a group of other kids her age or a little older. From the way they were dressed they looked like trouble, rough and sneering at the well dressed Hogwarts girls.

Harry moved over to stand by Hermione with Ginny on the other side. The other girls gathered around to support them.

"Damn girl." One of the guys in front was looking Harry over sleazily. "You look fine. Why don't you hang out with me?"

"No thanks." Harry looked disgusted.

"I'll show you how a real man acts."

"I think I'm more of a man than you are."

That set the girls laughing.

"Bitch." The youth stepped forward to grab Harry.

Harry reacted, his limited martial arts training kicking it as he caught him in a wrist lock, pushed him off balance and kicked his feet out from under him sending him to the ground.

Kate stepped forward. "You know. You have been told to stay away from this lot." She scolded her sister. "You are in so much trouble. Sis will be here soon."

"You think we're scared of you?" Another guy sneered at her.

"Is there a problem here?" Kingsley stepped forward.

Hestia approached from the other side, ready to assist and Tonks stepped up next to Harry with Kate on his other side.

"Alright, break it up everyone before I start arresting people." A woman in a police uniform pushed through the crowd to stand between the two groups. "What's going on? Olivia, you have been told to stay away from them." She addressed the Kate's sister.

"This is my older sister, Ann." Kate whispered to Harry.

"Ah."

"You had better leave unless you want to spend the night in jail." Ann told the gang of youths.

They grumbled but moved off.

"Not you." Ann grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her back. "You're coming home with us."

"Hey, get off me." Olivia protested and tried to shake her arm free, to no avail.

"Sorry about this." Ann addressed the others. "This little brat has been causing trouble for years."

"Don't worry." Harry waved her off. "I'm just glad there wasn't an actual fight. Are you okay Hermione?"

"Yeah. It just brought back some bad memories."

"Apologise." Ann ordered her youngest sister.

"Sod off."

"We had better get her out of here before she causes more trouble." Kate suggested.

"We need to go as well." Harry told them. "It was good to see you again."

"You too Harry."

Harry put his arm around Hermione's shoulders and they led the group away with Kingsley and Hestia following them discretely.

Kate looked at her older sister was watching the group leave with a confused expression. "What is it?"

"I don't know. Just... something. I'm missing something." Ann shook her head to clear it. "Who was that girl? There's more to this there looks."

"I've only met her once before. She showed up at my martial arts class to watch and pulled off moves I've never seen before."

Ann nodded absently. "Come on. We'd better go home."

!HPEaSE!

"Are you alright Hermione?" Harry asked as the group settled in the car.

"Yeah. It was just a little unsettling. Thanks, all of you." Hermione lent into the comforting feel of his side.

"Anytime." Ginny sat on her other side and gave her a hug.

"We're friends. It goes without saying." Daphne added.

"We can't put off tonight but if you would prefer to sit it out..." Harry suggested.

"No, it's important. Perhaps tormenting an arrogant pure-blood will cheer me up." Hermione paused and looked around the car. "No offence."

"None taken." Tracy smiled back. "I'm sure we all know some arrogant pure-bloods who need to be taken down a few notches."

!HPEaSE!

Harry looked around the Entrance Hall. It looked radically different after the girls redecorated it for their little show. The couches had been removed and a number of thrones had been conjured for Harry and the girls. The lights had been dimmed and a single spot in front of head thrones was illuminated in which Narcissa was to be placed.

"Are you all sure about this?" He asked.

"Yes." Daphne replied as she handed him a hooded robe proudly displaying the Malfoy family symbol. "We need to get her off balance and show her how we take everything away from her."

"Isn't that a little harsh?"

"Perhaps. She won't change without a good reason though. We have to scare her first, then we can entice her. We have to get her unconditional loyalty which means an oath. She has to accept you unconditionally as her Head of Family."

"I understand. This just seems a little over the top."

"Maybe. But you are about to put her in a very important position that requires us to be able to trust her completely." Daphne looked around. "We might be getting a little carried away though."

"Are we ready?" Tracy asked as she pulled on her robe which also displayed the Malfoy crest.

"I think so." Daphne replied. "Harry, I think it's time. Could you ask Tonks to bring her mother and Narcissa."

"Okay." Harry headed off in search of Tonks.

A quick conversation later and Tonks was heading for the fireplace.

"Alright everyone." Tracy called out. "Get your robes on. Our little show will be starting soon."

The girls and Harry gathered around the illuminated spot, making sure there robes were straight. They didn't have to wait long as first Andromeda then Tonks stepped out of the floo. Tonks was levitating a body which she left on the floor as her mother joined Harry under the spot light.

"Evening Harry. Sorry it took so long but I have everything ready." Andromeda passed over two folders. "The top folder has the four proxy documents you required. You just need to fill in the person's name and have both of you sign it."

"Thanks. That's great." Harry thanked her as he looked through the parchments. "What's in the other folder?"

"I took the liberty or drafting some documents to formally expel certain people from a family. Enough for the three Lestranges' and both Malfoy's if necessary."

"Good." Harry nodded. "This will come in useful. Can you make a few copies?"

"Sure but they won't have the legal validity of the original."

"They don't need to. They just need to prove the original exists." Harry replied.

"I see. May I watch your little performance?" Andromeda looked around. "It looks like it should be interesting."

"Sure, pull up a throne." Harry grinned.

Andromeda laughed.

She pulled her wand created several copies of each document. Harry asked Dobby for a quill and ink and filled out Narcissa's name on the copies of the documents but didn't sign either. A few more names were written on other copies for good measure.

"Tonks, can you move her in to the light please?" Harry asked.

Tonks nodded and began moving the unconscious woman while Harry gesture to Sally to move around to lie between Narcissa and the fireplace, the light from the flames casting ominous shadows through the snake's skeleton.

Everyone took their seats with Harry and Tracy in the head thrones and the other girls lined down either side of the spotlight towards the fire. They pulled their hood up and with a nod from Harry, Tonks woke up Narcissa and stepped back into the shadows so she couldn't be seen.

Narcissa groaned a little as consciousness returned. She didn't know what hit her. One minute she was sitting, reading and the next she was lying on a cold floor.

She sat up and looked around. The room was dark, dark enough that she couldn't see the walls. There was a fireplace behind her obscured by something she couldn't make out properly.

"Kneel before your Lord." A voice boomed out of the darkness.

Narcissa quickly knelt, trying to find her wand but it was missing. "Who are you, why am I here?"

"I am Lord Malfoy. You are here to determine what your future will be." The voice replied.

Narcissa's eyes had now adjusted enough to make out several figures seated on thrones and hidden in the shadows. "I am Lady Malfoy. You will address me with respect."

A stinging hex shot into her side. "'I' am Lady Malfoy. Learn you place."

"There is no proof that you are who you say you are."

The figure who had spoken first raised a hand forward and a light appeared illuminating a ring featuring the Malfoy crest. Even from where she was she could tell it was real.

"Fine. If you are Lord Malfoy, what happened to my son?" Narcissa demanded. "He was next in line and now he is dead. Are you responsible?"

"No. It was his own stupidity that ended his life. He violated the treaty with the Goblins and was executed accordingly. Even if he had escaped death, using the Killing Curse in front of the Head of the DMLE would have ensured a visit to Azkaban and the loss of his inheritance."

Narcissa's face was a mask as she processed that information. "So what happens to me?"

"I am trying to decide if you should be permitted to remain in the family or if you should be expelled."

"You're bluffing?" Narcissa couldn't keep a quaver out of her voice.

Her response was a rolled up parchment landing in front of her. She picked it up and opened it. Her face paled in shock as the nature of the document became clear. It was a document to expel her from the family. Her name was filled in; it only required signing and sealing.

"You aren't bluffing. Who are you? Are you one of the Dark Lords followers?"

"I have told you enough about who I am. As for the half-blood who calls himself a Lord, his days are numbered, as are those who follow his path of blood-purity and intolerance."

"So you are aligning yourself with that idiot Dumbledore?"

"No, although we may find ourselves on the same side occasionally." The voice replied, seeming to be amused. "I plan on changing the Wizarding World for the better. Those who cling to the old ways without embracing the new will find themselves alone and powerless. And for the moment that includes you."

"If you cast me out I can always return to my maiden name of Black." Narcissa stood proudly.

There was another soft thump from the side as another parchment landed near her. She picked it up and read it and nearly freaked out. It was another document to expel her from another family, this time from the Black family.

"As the representative for Lord Black, I can assure you that he is more than willing to sign and enact that document." A new voice sounded from the left.

"Perhaps my sister..." Narcissa tried again.

Three more soft thumps cut her off. More documents, this time to expel her sister and both male Lestrange's from the Lestrange family. "Not a chance." This voice was from the right.

Narcissa's composure left her. There people had her life in their hands and there was nothing she could do about it.

"What do you want from me? Why am I here? For you to torment me?"

"To judge if you are worthy." A new voice answered.

"And so far you have not been." Another voice continued.

"And who are you to judge me?" Narcissa demanded.

"The future of the Wizarding World."

"And what does that mean?"

"We plan on improving the World for everyone. Not just the few old fools' trying to hold on to their failing power."

"So you plan of getting rid of them."

"Something like that." The first voice spoke again. "What have they achieved with their 'power' anyway? They are destroying the Wizarding World, splitting it apart in their greed. What have they actually achieved on their own merit? They go on about their great ancestors and long lineage but never actually do anything. Tell me what you have achieved in your life. You were in Slytherin, what has your cunning and ambition achieved?"

"Uh." Narcissa was caught off guard by the question.

"As I thought. 'NOTHING'." The voice sounded disgusted. "And don't even think of mentioning your husband or son. I have met them; they are nothing to be proud of."

"What do you want from me? Why are you telling me this?"

"Because we are trying to change the future. We are trying to achieve a world of nobility, knowledge, loyalty, ambition and honour. We are curious to see if you might have a place in it."

"Do I have a place in that future, in that world?"

"That is up to you. What can you offer us? What greatness can you achieve?"

"I don't know." Narcissa looked uncertain. "I achieved high grades in my NEWTS but I have been running the Malfoy household since then. I guess I lost my ambition."

"Would you like it back?" The voice asked softly. "Would you like to achieve greatness? Would you like to change the world?"

"How?"

"By joining us. Place your trust in us. Pledge your loyalty to us. Aid us, advise us."

"You want my advice?"

"All opinions are valued but we must move forward in unison."

"Understandable, dissention will only cause problems." Narcissa looked thoughtful. "You want my unconditional loyalty?"

"True, but only if you are willing to give it. We are not like the Dark Lord, forcing loyalty and punishing cruelly. Differences in opinion are respected and will be listened too."

"That sounds good, if it's true. How can I trust you?"

"How can 'We' trust you?"

"An impasse then." Narcissa looked to be gaining confidence. "If I join you what do you want me to do?"

Another parchment was tossed to her. She looked at it in shock. "You wish to make me your voice in the Wizengamot for the house of Malfoy?"

"Yes. If we can trust you, that is."

"I understand. And if I refuse?"

"You will be cast out of the families. I will give you some money to survive for a while but you will have to find work."

"You won't harm me?" Narcissa seemed surprised.

"No. At worst we'll have this conversation removed from your memory."

"May I have a moment to think about this?"

"Of course." The voice seemed amused. "This is not a decision to be made lightly."

Narcissa stood in thought for several minutes, aware of the people around her watching her.

"Your plan will take you up against the Dark Lord, are you prepared for that? Do you have proof of your capabilities?"

"Take a look behind you."

Narcissa looked around and took a closer at the shape in front of the fire. Her eyes widened in shock as she began discerning the details of the massive skeletal snake looking at her.

"A trophy from a victory of mine a few years ago. Impressive huh?"

"Very." Narcissa replied weekly as she struggled not to scream.

"Have you made a decision?"

"Yes. I do swear my fealty to the new Lord Malfoy. How may I serve you my Lord?"

The people seemed to be exchanging glances. Then they started stepping down from their thrones.

"Welcome Narcissa." The first voice stepped forward and flipped its hood down revealing a young woman with red hair and green eyes. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Harry Potter."

Narcissa stared at the face, finally finding the telltale lightning bolt scar, faded in the skin of the young woman's forehead.

"Harry Potter? How did you get to be Lord Malfoy?"

"Well, after your son tried to steal the Black and Potter families from me and falling afoul of the inheritance laws for his part in turning me into a girl, he tried to kill me so the goblins gave me the Malfoy and Lestrange titles as well." Harry explained.

"So you have four titles?"

"Correct. I can't use them all at once so I need proxies. Your sister Andromeda seemed to think you could be helpful."

"Andy?"

"I'm glad you chose to join us." Andromeda made her presence known. "I would hate to lose another sister."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Narcissa took a deep breath and faced Harry. "How may I help you?"

"There is a trial in the Wizengamot. Deloris Umbridge is to be tried for a number of crimes. I need you in your place on the Wizengamot."

Narcissa nodded. "Is there a particular way you wish me to vote? Guilty or not guilty? I'm guessing guilty from what I know of your history with her."

"She's guilty but I'm not expecting you vote that way because I told you too. I expect you to judge for yourself based on the facts and give an honest vote." Harry scolded her lightly.

Narcissa nodded, accepting the admonishment gracefully and adjusting her views accordingly.

"One of the first votes I'll need you for is to instate Lord Patil into the Wizengamot." Harry explained. "Hopefully it will be tomorrow but we'll have to wait and see."

"Lord Patil? Why?"

"A part of a deal I made with him."

"I understand." Narcissa thought for a moment. "May I ask what the plan is?"

"Of course. Initially we are protecting the innocents and building political allies and capital in the process." Daphne stepped forward, pulling off her own hood.

"We are trying to block Voldemort's plans and attacks until we can stop him properly." Harry added.

"And we plan on tearing down the barriers between all the people of the wizarding world." Hermione pulled her hood down. "If we all work together we will win much easier."

Narcissa looked around the faces of all the girls. "You will have eight votes on the Wizengamot, once Patil is in. You will have a strong voice."

"Not just eight votes but everything that goes with them." Susan countered. "Many will vote with us simply to be seen as being on our side."

"True." Narcissa nodded. "And with the houses you have supporting you, you have appeal to both the light and dark families."

"We had considered that." Daphne told her.

"I'm sure. I will play my part, you have my loyalty as requested, I just need to know one thing. What do I do if my husband or sister makes contact with me?"

"Stall. With the wards at their former houses having been reset and reinforced they won't have access and you will be safe." Harry instructed. "Let us know and we'll come to help, or send help if we can't. We'll have to develop a better means of communication than owls or the floo before the end of the summer."

"I'll let you know if I have any ideas. If there is nothing else, I would like to rest before tomorrow." Narcissa paused. "Will I be permitted to return to Malfoy Manor?"

"Eventually. There are some things we need to do there first. There is room for you here if you require new alternate accommodation."

"No, she can remain with us for a while longer." Andromeda smiled at her sister.

"Okay. I'll be contacting the goblins to ward your property properly though. You'll be making yourselves targets by doing this." Harry told them.

"Thank you." Andromeda thanked him. "Though I think you worry too much."

"While Voldemort's still out there, that isn't possible." Harry countered. "It'll be a pleasure working with you all. I'll let you know when we are ready to go through Malfoy Manor and the others. Your knowledge will be invaluable."

"I'll look forward to it. I will see you tomorrow. Good evening My Lord." Narcissa bowed and turned to leave.

"I should be leaving as well. Bye everyone." Andromeda joined her sister and they flooed out.

"That went well." Tonks commented.

"Yes. One more ally." Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"They have one point though." Hermione commented. "It's getting late. We should go to bed ourselves. Are you all going to say over?"

"Why not." Daphne smiled.

"We have everything we need here." Susan added.

"We finally get to use our rooms." Hannah was nearly bouncing. "After all that work we put into decorating them."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." Harry yawned. "I'll catch you all tomorrow."

"Goodnight Harry." They chorused.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

More delays. Life does tend to get in the way a little. It also doesn't help when you're a little unsure of the chapter in question.

Still, I'm not sure how to make it better so I'm stuck with it as it is.

I've had a lot of great feedback on my previous chapters so thank you to everyone who reviewed and offered suggestions.

**Chapter 16**

Harry was out and about before the others woke up the next morning. He and Tonks ran to his class where they met John.

"Morning Harry. We're going to start training with a staff today." John greeted his student.

"Morning Sensei, I'm looking forward to it." Harry replied.

"No complaints?" John looked amused. "Most new students prefer the sword."

"We'll do that tomorrow, don't we?"Harry shrugged. "That's soon enough."

"Very mature. The staff is a very flexible weapon, one that may play to your abilities. It will also allow you more flexibility than a sword."

Harry nodded. "Let's find out."

They began working on the staff and Harry really enjoyed the staff's flow as he swung it through the sequence he was practising. The short staff was quick and easy to manoeuvre.

"You continue to impress me." John admired Harry's form. "As this rate we'll be sparing in a couple of weeks, though I'll have to ask that you don't use your special ability."

"Thanks." Harry felt proud of his accomplishments, and with good reason.

"Spend some time practising while using your ability. I did some research of legends and even a little made up stuff that seemed to match. The true masters were, theoretically, able to charge their weapons with their energy to strengthen them. This, I think, is why some swords and are reputed to be so much better and stronger than others."

"I didn't know that."

"I learnt a few things myself. I think it may be possible to use your energy to strengthen a toothpick enough to block a sword. Think. The theory is nice, but it would be a very advanced application of your ability."

"So I'd better not try relying on a toothpick to stop someone with a sword anytime soon." Harry grinned. "Where did you pick that one up?"

John laughed. "Not telling. Start practising. After that you need to work on your movements while tapping into your energy."

Harry nodded and got to work. He found using the staff to direct his energy came naturally. The strikes and jabs seemed to be natural nexus point from which he could project his energy the same way he could with his hands and feet. It had taken a little practice to include the staff in his flow of energy but he began to understand what his Sensei had meant by letting his energy flow through his weapon. It wasn't the same as his wand but he could feel a certain similarity, or was it familiarity, he wasn't sure.

His practise at his jumping had improved. He still slipped on the grass when he tried to move faster but he hadn't fallen completely. When he complained about the slippery surface his Sensei just waved him off.

"If you can do this without slipping on a bad surface then it will be easier on a better surface. Plus not all surfaces are going to be good." John explained. "When you master this it might be an idea for you to try it on ice and really test your balance."

After a few more attempts Harry managed to keep his balance when he landed after a much faster jump. "Hah! Finally."

"Not yet." John shook his head. 'Do another one, right here." He indicated a spot just in front of him.

Harry nodded and jumped. His landing was good but John simply reached out a pushed him, sending him to get ground.

"Your balance still needs work."

"Yeah. Okay." Harry got up, brushing himself down. "I'll keep practising."

"Good. See you tomorrow."

There was applause from a short distance away. Kate had shown up and had been watching unnoticed a short distance away.

"Hey Harry. That was amazing." Kate called out to him. "Just goes to show that girls can do anything."

Harry flushed in embarrassment at that comment.

"Good morning Miss Anderson. You're here early." John greeted his student.

"I was trying to catch Harry. She told me she was working with you in the mornings and I hoped to see how she was doing."

"She's improving more rapidly than I would have thought possible." John complemented his new student. "She's a real pleasure to teach."

"I could see. I was wondering if I might be able to talk you in to being my sparring partner but if you can move like that I won't stand a chance." Kate told Harry.

"I'm not that good yet." Harry protested.

"Maybe not, but you have abilities you can use to compensate that I can't match."

"And if I promise not to use them?"

"Then I'll happily kick your arse."

"Oh, thank you." Harry replied dryly.

"Any time." Kate chirped cheerfully.

John laughed at the repartee between the two girls. "It was a good session Harry. You'd better go so I can set up for my next class."

"Thank you Sensei. It was good seeing you again Kate. I'd like to stay and chat but I'm really busy today." Harry bid the other girl goodbye.

"It was good to see you too Harry." Kate replied. "See you next time?"

"I hope so." Harry picked up his things. "Later." And, with a final wave, jogged off.

"I like her." Kate commented. "There's just something different about her."

"I know." John agreed. "I don't know what though. The way she learns, she enjoys it but there's something more, something that makes her push harder than I've ever seen anyone push before."

"I wonder what?"

"I don't know, she keeps her personal life pretty quiet. The odd reference here and there but never any details." John paused. "There's just something I can't put my finger on. Something that makes me afraid that I might find out."

!HPEaSE!

Harry set a fast pace home, much to Tonks dismay. Harry was concerned that he would be late for the Wizengamot today. Timing was essential if he was to pull off what he wanted. He knew Fudge would try to block him if he figured out what was going to happen.

"Thanks for that." Tonks glared at him as she threw his Invisibility cloak at him and wiped the sweat from her face while fluffing her top to face a breeze down her front.

"Any time." Harry teased her. "You needed a shower anyway. Are the clothes you need here?"

"Of course. I'm an Auror, did you expect me to be anything less than completely prepared?"

"Just checking." Harry run off to his room to shower and change before she could decide if she was going to hex him or not.

As his reached the top of the stairs he found the girls all dress and waiting in the upstairs living room. A quick good morning later and he was heading out of the room with Hermione letting him know his breakfast would be waiting for him when he got back.

A quick shower later and he came out to find clothes laid out for him. He was pleased to notice that they had been chosen to minimise his current femininity. It would be his first time going out in public as Harry Potter, male wizard turned female. Despite everything he had enjoyed the anonymity of his current look. That gave his pause for thought and he hurried to finish dressing and dug out his old glasses.

"Um." He paused as he re-entered the living room. "Could you do me a favour?"

"Who are you asking?" Hannah asked from her chair.

"Anyone really. I need my hair turning back to normal and could someone transfigure my glasses?"

"Transfigure your glasses into what?" Hermione asked as she passed his breakfast to him and took the glasses.

"Just plain glass instead of corrective lenses."

"That's a really good idea." Tracy looked over from her book. "Hiding behind the publicly expected image of Harry Potter. Very Slytherin of you."

"Thank you." Harry nodded his appreciation to the Slytherin girl.

"Hmmm." Hermione studied him a moment. "Padma, could you sort his hair please, I just need to do something."

"Okay." The Indian girl stood and moved behind Harry, using her wand to summon what she needed and returned his hair to its natural colour and length before attacking it with a brush.

Hermione tapped his glasses with her wand to turn them into plain glass and headed out of the room.

When she returned, Padma was giving up on making any progress at getting his hair looking anything less than a mess. She waited until the Ravenclaw had stopped before turning Harry to face her.

"Hold still and close your eyes." She told him.

Obeying, Harry felt Hermione doing something to his forehead in the region of his scar, no, to the scar itself. It took a couple of minutes before Hermione stopped and, putting his glasses on him, asked everyone for their opinion.

"What do you think?" Hermione asked as she stepped back.

"Very good." Padma complemented them.

The other girls added their agreement.

"Can I see?" Harry asked.

Hermione flicked her wand summoning a small hand mirror which she held up in front of Harry's face. Harry looked at his reflection surprised by how different he looked from just a few minutes ago. His scar was more visible; he looked like the image he remembered of who he was before he was turned into a female.

"Good. Thank you." Harry thanked them. "This should keep who I was separate from who I am now. For the time being at least."

"Yes. Now eat. We don't know how long before we have to go." Hermione pushed him gently towards a chair.

Harry nodded and dug into his meal. They sat in silence for a while; the only noises were Harry's munching and the occasional turning of a page.

"Are we doing this right?" Harry asked quietly, setting his bowl aside.

"How do you mean?" Susan asked.

"Everyone joining the Wizengamot at once. Won't they see though it?"

"You're worrying again, Harry." Hermione set her book aside.

"There was no other way of doing it." Daphne added. "With Fudge preventing the Wizengamot from meeting for quite a while now there will be a lot of different business happening today. We should be able to slip our business in amongst it easily."

"It is possible that they may wait on the outcome of the trial though." Susan added. "With Auntie drumming up support behind the scenes there are a number of people who will be interested in the outcome of the trial. They may feel they will be heard better under a new Minister, especially if they helped vote that Minister in."

"Okay." Harry nodded. "Here's hoping things work."

"You worry too much." Ginny teased him.

"Probably." Harry slumped. "I just don't want anything to go wrong or for anyone to get hurt. Too many people have been hurt around me already."

"Everything will be fine. We're planning everything carefully." Susan reassured him. "There's no guarantee that people won't get hurt at some point but it won't be your fault. You've done more than anyone to protect people."

"I know. I just wish I could do more." Harry replied.

"I know, Harry." Hermione moved over to give him a brief hug. "I know."

"Everything will be fine." Everyone looked at the unfamiliar woman standing in the doorway.

"Tonks?" Harry asked hesitantly after a moment of contemplative staring.

"Wotcher." Tonks grinned. "I'm ready for my performance. Like the new look?"

"Nope, it's just not you." Harry grinned. "But I think it will work."

Tonks sat down in a surprisingly collected manner. "This waiting around really gets to me. What's taking so long?"

"Fudge wanting to surprise us as much as possible I imagine." Daphne replied.

"Arrogant prat." Tonks grumped, setting the other girls laughing.

Dobby appeared. "Auror Jones has arrived. She says its time."

"Show time." Tonks bounced out of her chair and led the group down the stairs and to the Entrance Hall.

"The session will be convened in twenty minutes." Hestia greeted them.

Both Andromeda and Narcissa were already there waiting and with a nod to the group headed out through the floo. Harry straightened his outer robe which proudly displayed the Potter Family Crest, proclaiming his place as Lord Potter, Head of the Potter Family.

"Good luck Harry." Daphne gave him a brief hug. "We can't be at your side through this but we will be there wishing you luck." With one last wave she headed for the floo.

The other girls each gave him a hug and their own words of encouragement before they too stepped through the floo, heading to the Ministry foyer.

"We should go Harry." Hestia was the last one there. "Everything will be fine, you'll see." She smiled encouragingly.

Harry took a deep breath and, pulling all his Gryffindor courage to the surface, stepped forward determinedly through the floo to the Ministry of Magic.

And stumbled out the other end. He was glad for his martial arts training. His sense of balance was better than ever and kept him from falling flat on his face in front of everyone in the crowded foyer.

Harry looked around as Hestia led him down the foyer to the Ministry proper and noted that there was still some spell damage visible from Voldemort's attack two weeks ago. The fountain was still a shattered mess.

A nudge from his Auror escort pointed him towards the lifts. When he indicated the reception desk she shook her head.

"You're a Head of Family. You don't have to bother with that." She informed him.

Harry nodded and entered the lift behind Hestia. The lift took them to a corridor that Harry hadn't seen before. A pair of Aurors nodded to Hestia as she led Harry out of the lift and down the corridor.

"This is a back way into the Wizengamot Meeting Room, one of several. With the main entrance being packed with reporters and members of the public a lot of the members take alternate entrances to avoid the crowds." Hestia told him as she led him to a door and opened it and waved him through.

Harry stepped though into a sea of noise caused by the mass of people filling the large circular room. It was similar to the courtroom he had been tried in a year ago but much cleaner and better lit as opposed to the dingy courtroom. The Head chair dominated on end and the chairs for the Wizengamot members spread out either side. The ground held several tables and chairs for trials and petitioners. The other end of the room was massed seating for the people who wished to watch the proceedings.

Hestia nudged him towards one of the chairs in the middle of the room where he could see Hermione, Ginny and Luna waiting. Amelia Bones was standing there with another wizard talking to them. Harry noticed Susan, Hannah and Padma were sitting in the first row of the public seating just behind them.

"Morning Harry." Amelia greeted him. "I trust you made it in without any problems."

"I did. Auror Jones was kind enough to take me in the back way." Harry relied.

"I'm glad to hear it." Amelia smiled. "Have a seat. There will be a few items to take care of first then the trial will begin. I don't think Fudge will be too happy that we're already fully prepared for him rather than caught off guard."

"I'm glad to hear it." Harry grinned back as he sat next to Ginny.

"I need to remind you to keep your temper; any appearance of you being an immature child will hurt our case."

Harry took a deep breath. "I understand. Just nail the bitch."

"We'll get her." Amelia grinned at him and turned back to her seat.

Harry turned his attention to his friends. "How was your trip in?"

"Crowded." Ginny answered. "Lots of people want to watch this trial because you are supposed to be here. You wouldn't believe the questions we got about you on the way in."

"I don't think I want to know." Harry groaned.

Ginny nodded. "Believe me; I wish I didn't know."

"Have you spotted Tracy and Daphne yet?"

"Yes." Hermione lent over. "They're in the second row but on the far side. You probably couldn't see them because they were nearly behind you as you came in."

Harry nodded but didn't look around. "So, how long before this starts?"

"Hopefully not much longer." Ginny replied.

They didn't have much longer to wait. Albus Dumbledore, restored to his position, came down the stairs behind his chair and took his seat. With a couple of taps of his gavel everyone quietened down and hurried to their seats. With another tap of his gavel he called the Wizengamot to session and began announcing the intended agenda; which really only consisted of the trial of Deloris Umbridge and any miscellaneous business to be brought forward by any member of the Wizengamot.

He began with a roll call of the assembled members. Andromeda drew a lot of gossip as she showed her Letter of Authority to act for the new Lord Black. She showed why she was a true Black as her stern glare silenced the masses. Dumbledore arched an eyebrow but refrained from comment as he moved on. The real gossip didn't start until Tonks answered in the place of Lord Lestrange. She handed over her Letter, ignoring the voices around her. The stern visage of her disguise was impassive as she resumed her seat, firing a glare at Dumbledore to get him to continue his roll call.

Narcissa took her place as the Malfoy proxy and while she got a few murmurs she silenced them easily with a stern look. Shacklebolt answered in place of the Potter family and handed over his Letter. Dumbledore looked surprised and glanced over at Harry.

"Are you sure about this Mr Potter?" Dumbledore asked.

"Lord Potter, if you please." Harry replied firmly. "Auror Shacklebolt has kindly accepted my request to act as my proxy until I find a more suitable replacement, or I feel ready to assume the position myself."

Dumbledore looked like he wanted to argue but stopped himself and nodded. He finished the roll call and introduced the first item on the agenda, the trial of Deloris Umbridge.

Deloris Umbridge was led out with another wizard escorting her.

Minister Fudge stood. "I must protest. This trial is unnecessary; Madam Umbridge has my complete confidence. I would also like to question the impartiality of Auror Shacklebolt acting as Potter's proxy. Potter is a witness for the prosecution."

"Lord Potter if you please." Harry responded. "Auror Shacklebolt has already informed me that he will not be accepting any direction from me in any trial. There is no reason that he would not be impartial in the matter."

"Thank you Lord Potter." Dumbledore nodded and addressed Minister Fudge. "The allegations against Madam Umbridge are very serious. Abuse of children under her care, attempted use of an Unforgiveable, attempted murder. These must be investigated and Madam Umbridge must be given the courtesy of the chance to defend herself and be proven innocent or guilty."

Dumbledore tapped his gavel and called the court into session. "Madam Bones, would you please begin introducing the evidence you have collected."

"Thank you Lord Dumbledore." Amelia stood. "The charges against Madam Umbridge are as follows. Multiple counts or abuse of children under her care by use of a restricted item, a Blood Quill. Attempted use of the Cruciatus Curse against Lord Potter and the attempted murder of Lord Potter by use of a Dementor. This has led to the additional charges of abuse of restricted Ministry property for illegal purposes and the attempted perversion of justice. I would like to begin by offering two memories supplied by Lord Potter."

"Lord Potter supplied memories for us to view?" A witch questioned from the Wizengamot. "Remarkable."

"Indeed, Lady Zabini." Amelia gave a slight nod to the older witch.

Amelia gestured and a wizard levitated a large Pensive into the centre of the area between the Wizengamot and the tables. Amelia stepped forward and pulled out two vials and emptied the first one into the Pensive.

With a tap of her wand an image was displayed above the Pensive. Harry watched as the events of barely two weeks ago began relaying before the assembled crowd. Umbridge in all her gloating glory admitting to sending Dementors after him and drawing her wand to cast the Cruciatus curse and Hermione calling out to stop her. The murmurs from the Wizengamot were very disapproving and stern glares were directed at Umbridge.

Harry was surprised that there wasn't more of an outcry from the crowd of people watching. He turned round to see and found that a number or people were shouting but none were heard.

"There is a barrier between the main courtroom and the public gallery. They can hear want is happening but they cannot interfere in anyway." Hermione explained as she saw his movement and confused expression. "It gets raised when the session begins."

"Ah, thanks."

Amelia stopped the playback and returned the memory to the vial and opened the second and began displaying Harry's first detention where she forced him to begin writing lines with the Blood Quill. Amelia let them watch as he wrote several lines before fast forwarding the memory as Harry fill parchment after parchment with his own blood. She resumed normal speed for the end of the detention stopped the image on Umbridge's gloating face.

The wizard defending Umbridge stood. "As disturbing as these images are there is no proof that these memories are accurate."

Amelia suppressed a slight smirk. Things were playing directly into her hands much easier than she could have hoped. "Lord Potter, would you be willing to swear on your magic to the authenticity and accuracy of this memory?"

"I would." Harry nodded and made to rise. "Now?"

Amelia turned back to the other wizard. "Mr Akerton. Would your client be willing to do the same?"

The threat was obvious, if hidden behind politely spoken words, and only received silence as a response. The implication was as obvious as the threat.

"I am afraid that I must insist that Madam Umbridge take the stand and be placed under Veritaserum." Dumbledore spoke up.

"That is uncalled for. I must protest." Akerton was nearly shouting. "This is an abuse of her rights. I demand to know why you are insisting on this."

"If the memory provided by Lord Potter is accurate then Madam Umbridge has sat amongst this august assembly and lied during a criminal trial. We must ensure that this body receives the truth. Lord Potter has already volunteered to prove the accuracy of his memories. Madam Umbridge has not."

Dumbledore tapped his gavel and a single chair rose to sit front of the tables, facing the Wizengamot. "Madam Umbridge, please take the stand. Bailiff, if you would please administer the Veritaserum."

A wizard stepped forward and escorted Umbridge to the new chair and waited for her to sit. He pulled a vial of clear liquid and ensured that she drank it all properly. He pulled his wand and cast a couple of spells then nodded to Dumbledore and stepped back.

"Madam Bones, please ask your questions." Dumbledore nodded to Amelia.

"Thank you." Amelia moved to face Umbridge. "Please state your name."

"Deloris Jane Umbridge." Umbridge's voice was unfocused and seemed a little distant.

"Did you see the memories played before this court?"

"Yes."

"Do those memories accurately portray the events as they occurred?"

"Yes." Even the Veritaserum haze couldn't disguise the disgust she felt at having to answer the question truthfully.

"Did you illegally send two Dementors to administer the Kiss to Lord Potter, a minor and then heir to an Ancient and Noble House?"

"Objection!"

"Overruled. Answer the question."

"Yes."

"Did you use the events surrounding that Lord Potter's act of self defence to attempt to have him expelled and his wand snapped?"

"Objection!"

"Overuled. And Mr Akerton, do not object again when you know full well it is a legitimate question." Dumbledore looked very sternly at the defence council. "Ms Umbridge, answer the question."

"Yes." Umbridge was forced to ground out. It was obvious she was fighting the potion, and failing.

"Did you withhold information and provide false information during a criminal trial?"

"Yes."

Did you use a restricted artefact, a Blood Quill, to torture a minor and student under you care?"

"Yes."

"How many students did you force to write with that Quill?"

"Twenty three."

"If I may." Lord Greengrass stood. Receiving a nod from both Amelia and Dumbledore she addressed Umbridge. "Where are the parchments that were written upon?"

"I threw away all but Potter's. His are in my office."

"Why did you keep his?"

"Objection! Don't answer." Akerton nearly shouted.

"Overruled. You are on thin ice Counsel." Dumbledore stated. "You will answer the question, Ms Umbridge."

"To have his blood to use against him, either by controlling him or cursing him. I had not decided which."

"Lord Dumbledore, I request that the parchments containing Lord Potter's blood are retrieved and destroyed immediately." Amelia stated.

"I agree. Aurors, please ensure that no one leaves. Senior Auror Moody, would you please go and destroy all the parchments in question." Dumbledore ordered.

Alistair Moody nodded and departed, his wooden leg thumping rapidly.

"Objection." Akerton called. "You are destroying evidence."

"This evidence is no longer required and is too dangerous to keep around." Dumbledore replied. "I don't think any of us could stop Auror Moody in any case. Please continue Madam Bones."

"Thank you. Why did you commit these crimes?" Amelia asked Umbridge.

"Because Potter was a threat to Minister Fudge. He was causing a panic and had to be stopped. I was concerned that Dumbledore would use the students against the Ministry and went to Hogwarts to ensure that they wouldn't be a threat."

"Am I to understand that you sabotaged the education of the students simply to further the goals of Minister Fudge?" Amelia demanded.

"Yes."

"Who decided to change the curriculum of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classes?"

"Myself, Minister Fudge and Lord Malfoy consulted together to decide on a curriculum that could appear to be valid but not teach anything."

"Is that Lucius Malfoy, the former Lord Malfoy who has been found guilty of being a Death Eater?"

"Yes."

"Refer to him by name, not title. Did these discussions include how you would punish the students?"

"Partially. Minister Fudge instructed me to ensure that the students knew not to challenge Ministry authority. Lucius Malfoy suggested that I use my imagination to impress the futility of resistance upon them."

"So you chose to use a Blood Quill on your own initiative?"

"Yes."

"Why did you think that you could get away with using a restricted artefact on a minor as an instrument of torture?"

"Because Minister Fudge promised to protect me from any repercussions."

"Did he give you the authority to torture the students?"

"Objection!"

"Madam Bones?" Dumbledore asked.

"I am merely ascertaining if she was operating on her own or under orders. It would have relevance to the severity of her punishment."

"I'll allow it. Continue. Your answer, Ms Umbridge?"

"No."

"Did he give you the authority to use an Unforgivable curse on the students?" Amelia continued her questioning.

"No."

"Has he ever used his position to protect you from the legal repercussions of illegal activities you committed?"

"Yes."

Amelia turned back to the Wizengamot. "I think I have proven my case."

"And then some." Dumbledore replied.

"I move that Madam Umbridge be found guilty and remanded to the Auror department for extensive questioning to determine the full extent of her crimes. Her sentence will be determined then."

"I have a couple of questions I want to ask." Harry muttered.

"You spoke Lord Potter?" Dumbledore looked sternly at his young student.

"Just remembering something."

"You can ask your questions if you wish." Amelia raised an eyebrow in interest.

"Objection!" Akterton stood shouting his protest. "This is unacceptable."

"I'll allow it." Dumbledore nodded to Harry. "Lord Potter. Please ask your questions."

Harry stood and walked up to the Umbridge still seated in the middle of the floor. "Did you attempt to dose me with Veritaserum during the school year?"

"Yes." Umbridge glared up at him.

"You put the potion it the cup of tea you tried to force me to drink didn't you?"

"Yes."

"How much did you put in that tea cup?"

"A whole vial."

A mix of exclamations burst out from various members of the Wizengamot. The overlap of noise made it impossible to tell what was being said.

"Silence." Dumbledore's voice rose above the noise.

Silence fell and Dumbledore turned to address Umbridge. "You attempted to give a minor a full vial of Veritaserum?"

"Yes."

"Are you aware that that level of dosage is fatal?"

"Yes."

"Are you aware that the level of overdose in a sip could cause irreparable brain damage?"

"Yes."

"Then why?"

"I wanted Potter's secrets. Anything that I could use against him. Anything I could use to destroy him. I didn't care if he died. Good riddance." Umbridge spat.

The Bailiff stepped forward and examined Umbridge. "The Veritaserum is wearing off. The questioning will have to end."

"Understood." Dumbledore looked around. "Member's of the Wizengamot, you have heard her statements. Your decisions please, guilty?" He counted the show of hands. "Not guilty?" He counted again.

The hands proclaiming her to be guilty were in a very definite majority. Only a few people voted for not guilty. Harry looked around making sure to note each of them for future reference.

"Ms Umbridge, you have been found guilty. You will be taken from this place to the Auror holding cells to be questioned and the full extent of your crimes revealed. Your sentencing will take place afterward. Bailiff, take her to her cell. Madam Bones, I will leave her questioning in your capable hands. You are authorised to use Veritaserum as needed."

The assembly of Witches and Wizards in the Wizengamot watched in silence as the overweight Witch was escorted from the room.

Fudge stood and addressed the Wizengamot. "I am shocked. I had no idea she had done such atrocious things. I hope that her punishment will be sufficient for the crimes she has committed. I deeply regret placing her in a position of authority. Lord Potter, I sincerely apologise."

"For what?" Harry questioned, looking up at the Minister of Magic.

"I beg your pardon?" Fudge looked confused.

"For what are you apologising?" Harry elaborated.

"For her actions against you at school." Fudge's confusion wasn't clearing.

"What about the rest?" Harry asked. "I seem to recall the Daily Prophet putting a lot of effort into destroying my reputation, do you really expect anyone to believe that you weren't using your position to influence them."

"Umm... Well... Ah..." Fudge was stuttering.

"You seemed to make a big deal about me lying about Voldemort's return. Then it turns out I wasn't lying. An apology would be the least you could do." Harry voice held a slight condescending tone, like he was lecturing a child, though only those who knew him would have detected.

"Yes well, we should discuss that. Why don't you join me in my office later, there is a lot we need to talk about."

"No thank you, I have no interest in supporting you. I am yet to see you do anything worth supporting. The only thing you seem capable of doing is promote you own image and get bad advice."

"Are you proposing a Vote of No Confidence in Minister Fudge?" A Wizard asked.

"I think that is advisable. Minister Fudge has shown no ability to lead the Wizarding World in such a crisis, especially given that he spent the last year denying Voldemort's return rather than investigating and preparing, and isn't is a little pathetic that the leaders of the Wizarding World can't hear his name without screaming" Harry shook his head in exasperation and continued to prevent any response. "I believe that the Ministry and Wizarding World would be better off in the hands of someone who will put the job first and know how to lead the Ministry on a wartime footing. Someone honest and trustworthy."

Harry took a deep breath. "I call for a vote of No Confidence in Minister Fudge."

"Lord Potter is this really necessary." Dumbledore protested.

"I second that motion." Andromeda spoke up. "I was unimpressed with Minister Fudge and his lack of action before I joined the august body. Having seen him first hand I find myself even more disappointed."

Dumbledore sighed. "A Vote of No Confidence in Minister Fudge has been called. Will all members please indicate their vote."

The votes were counted and the motion passed, though it was close. Harry noted those who voted against. There were several new faces but the same ones who voted for Umbridge's innocence voted against him again. Perhaps these people should be looked at further, Harry mused silently.

"Motioned passed." Dumbledore spoke, a heaviness in his voice. "Are there any nominations for an interim Minister?"

Lord Greengrass stood. "I think Lord Potter said it best, we need a Minister who can lead us in a war against the Dark Lord. I believe there is only one candidate who can secure the future of the Wizarding World. I nominate the current Head of the DMLE, Madam Amelia Bones for the position of Minister of Magic. I challenge everyone think of any witch or wizard more qualified or more honourable than Madam Bones." He stared around the room. "We need a strong leader not an easily manipulated puppet whose strings are pulled by the highest bidder."

There was silence amongst the member of the Wizengamot as they contemplated Lord Greengrass's words.

"I second that motion." Narcissa stood. "Madam Bones is the only suitable choice."

"She has my vote." Harry chimed in, glancing at Kingsley to see his nod of agreement.

"All in favour?" Dumbledore called for a show of hands.

The response was over whelming but not everyone voted for her. Still, she had a clear majority.

"Madam Bones, please allow me to be the first to congratulate you on your new position as Minister of Magic." Dumbledore gave her a half bow. "Would you like to say a few words?"

"Yes, thank you. I would like to thank the people who have placed their trust in me and hope to prove worthy of the task before me and the Ministry. There will have to be a number of changes to better enable the Ministry to protect everyone and resolve this unpleasant situation as quickly as possible. Thank you." Amelia bowed, first to the Wizengamot then to the assembled witches and wizards in the gallery.

"Is there any other business to be brought before the Wizengamot?" Dumbledore asked the room in general.

"I have one item." The disguised Tonks stood, careful to ensure her voice was different. "My Lord has several documents he wishes submitted."

She pulled a shrunken folder out of her robe and enlarged it and floated it over to Dumbledore. He opened it and looked through the pieces of parchment, his eyes widening in shock as he began to comprehend the nature of what he is reading.

"Are you sure about this?" Dumbledore looked confused. "Your Lord is expelling Bellatrix, Rabastan and Rudolfus Lestrange from the Lestrange family?"

"For conduct and beliefs contradictory to the direction My Lord wishes the family to take."

"You don't need to submit these before the entire Wizengamot."

"My Lord wished to make a statement about those who try to destroy the Wizarding World; this seemed the best way of doing it." The disguised Tonks stated.

"Well, these are official. Bellatrix, Rabastan and Rudolfus are now expelled from the Lestrange family by the order of Lord Lestrange. They are now without name or family, unless the Black family is willing to restore Bellatrix's maiden name?"

Andromeda looked over a Dumbledore with calm mask hiding her emotions. "I will need to confirm with Lord Black but my expectation is a vehement 'No'."

"It is actually a reasonable idea. They have committed numerous heinous crimes in the name of blood purity and disgraced their family names." Narcissa looked contemplative. "I believe I will request Lord Malfoy do the same to Lucius. My family would be better off without him."

Dumbledore nodded. "Any other business?"

There were several items raised and dealt with quickly.

Dumbledore looked around but there were no more items. "If that's all then I declare that this meeting of the Wizengamot is now adjourned."

Amelia nodded to Harry and he stood to follow her out, Ginny, Hermione and Luna behind him and Hestia bringing up the rear. They left via the back passageway and they turned into a room partway along.

"That went well." Amelia sank into a chair.

"Tense." Harry lent back against the wall. "That felt rather close."

"It could have been, but you managed to sway things nicely."

"How do you mean, I barely said anything?"

"You said enough. You willingness to confirm your memories accuracy and your support of me. The way you took down Cornelius was inspiring. You were amazing. You really called him on his mistakes and you did it in such a way that he couldn't retaliate."

"If you say so." Harry shrugged. "I just winged it. It seemed the right thing at the time."

"Your instincts seem to serve you well." Amelia gave him an appraising look.

"I've noticed that too." Hermione interjected. "When a crisis hits you go with your gut and it see's you through. It's where you truly excel. You get this intense focus and I know everything will be alright."

"Yeah. I saw it in the Deportment of Mysteries. It's how you managed to kill a sixty foot Basilisk." Ginny added.

"Quite sexy really." Luna commented absently.

Harry gaped at the younger girl as the others started laughing.

"I have to go. I have to move to my new office and start sorting out the Ministry." Amelia stood.

She opened the door to leave and stopped as she saw someone out there.

"Ah, Amelia." Dumbledore's voice floated through the doorway. "Allow me to congratulate you again on you new position."

"Thank you." Amelia replied dryly. "How may I help you?"

"I was actually hoping for a word with Harry, though I would like to say that I hope we can work closely together in the future."

"Lord Potter may not have time to have a word with you but you can ask." Amelia turned back. "Harry?"

"I suppose." Harry groaned. "But only for a minute. Could you stick around?"

"Of course. Albus, please be quick. We are all going to be very busy today." Amelia moved aside.

"Harry. It's good to see you again." Dumbledore entered the room. "Miss Granger, Miss Weasley, Miss Lovegood I hope you are all enjoying your holiday. Ms Jones, how are you this morning."

"Lord Potter if you please, Professor Dumbledore." Harry corrected. "How may I help you?"

"I was just wondering if you knew what sort of risk you took today in ousting Cornelius. He could have been replaced with a much worse candidate. You got very lucky."

"I always seem to get lucky, which has worked for me in the past, but I don't want to rely on it in the future."

"Be that as it may, you must avoid taking risks. You know what is at stake and what could happen if something was to happen to you. You must return to Privet Drive where you are safe."

"I'm not safe at Privet Drive. You may have come up with some barely adequate method of protecting me from the Wizarding World but there was nothing to protect me from my aunt and uncle." Harry said scathingly. "I'm safer now that I'm handling my own security."

"And what of your aunt and uncle's safety?"

"Taken care of, and not by any ephemeral means that require my presence and will end when I become an adult, which may have occurred now that I am emancipated and Lord of the Potter family."

"That is possible." Dumbledore conceded. "Still..."

Amelia cut him off. "I fail to see how Lord Potter's actions outside of Hogwarts have any relevance to you."

"There are special considerations that apply to Harry that have to be taken into consideration."

"I believe he asked you to call him Lord Potter and I am aware of these considerations and have taken action to ensure that are resolved in his favour."

Dumbledore actually lost his composure for a second. "You told her?"

"Yes. Not that it was actually necessary. Anyone with an ounce of logic could figure out most of it anyway." Harry appeared totally unconcerned. "Are you saying she isn't trust worthy?"

"No, not at all." Dumbledore replied quickly. "It does however explain Madam Bones' sudden promotion. You were working together. It was still a dangerous move."

"But one that was necessary and well prepared for." Amelia retorted. "If there is nothing further, we are rather busy."

"I understand. I must ask, why did you do this?"

"You really have to ask?" Harry looked surprised. "Do you really that Fudge could lead the Wizarding World against Voldemort? Madam Bones is the only logical choice."

"But still..."

"I'm rather disappointed in you. You criticise me and yet I have done more to combat Voldemort in the last two weeks than you appear to have done in the last decade and a half. Don't you want to protect people?"

"Of course I do." Dumbledore replied angrily. "But this will back fire. Voldemort will go on a killing spree; more people will suffer because of this. He will take this as a personal affront."

"Which is why we have to take his people away from him permanently, so his ability to fight back is limited. I will do whatever is necessary to beat him." Harry straightened. "You may feel that second chances are important and maybe they are, but not at the expense of innocent lives. It is the innocent lives I am trying to protect."

"I'm also concerned that you just advocated NOT protecting the people." Amelia added. "Not what I would have expected from you."

"I think you are misunderstanding me." Dumbledore protested. "I am not saying anything of the sort."

"I'll take you at your word." Amelia glared at him. "Now, I suggest you leave before you shove your foot any further down your throat."

"This meeting is not going the way I intended."

"No, I imagine it isn't." Harry stared him down. "Leaving is your best option right now. Perhaps we can meet again sometime in the future; when you are ready to listen to other people and tell them all the things they need to know, not what you think they should know."

"There are still things that need to be discussed." Dumbledore persisted. "Severus is in one of your holding cells, I demand to know why he has been detained."

"You demand?" Amelia arched an eyebrow at him. "We have some questions for him. He will remain with us until they are answered. I do not think, however, that a bearer of the Dark Mark is suitable as a teacher. Especially when the number of Potions NEWTS students has dropped dramatically since he became a teacher which is why we have such a small pool of Auror candidates."

"Severus is one of the most talented Potion Masters I have ever met."

"But that doesn't mean he can teach. From what I've heard teaching is not one of his talents. Why do you have such a vindictive man teaching children?"

"Severus has my complete trust."

"It still doesn't make him capable of teaching."

"There are reasons. Severus's safety is at stake."

"I am a little more concerned with the safety of everyone else." Amelia glared at the aging wizard. "I also fail to see why talented students are forced to drop an important subject because he is unable to teach properly."

"I'm sure Severus does his best."

"Well his best is no longer good enough. Find yourself a new Potions teacher."

"I was going to. I asked Severus to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Then I suggest you find a new DADA teacher." Amelia paused. "Actually, I may be able to supply an Auror. We need to ensure the students are protected and learn how to protect themselves. We can't rely on Lord Potter to do it for us each year."

"I will consider your offer. When will Severus be released?"

"He will be questioned first. His release will be dependent on his answers."

"I 'm afraid I can't allow that. His life would be forfeit if that were to happen."

"If he chooses such dangerous company..."

"At my request. He is a spy, the information he gathers is invaluable."

"That is to be determined." Amelia stated. "I believe you will just have to trust me and my judgement in this matter. I can assure you that I will handle it with the utmost discretion. That is final. It would not do for the head of the Wizengamot to be encouraging a potential miscarriage of justice."

"Very well. Good day Madam Bones. Lord Potter, Miss Granger, Miss Weasley, Miss Lovegood." Dumbledore gave them an abbreviated bow and left.

"Somehow I don't think that when according to his plan." Hermione repressed a giggle.

Harry grinned at her.

"It's always nice to get the better of him." Amelia was grinning as well.

"I'm still surprised at how well that trial went." Harry commented once they had composed themselves.

"Really?" Amelia looked surprised. "I think you underestimate the effect you have on people. Your offer to verify the memories put Umbridge on the defensive as she would be proven a liar if she tried to do the same. Something that was obvious to everyone. Once you did that it was over for her. Having Lord Greengrass and the other's supporting you in the Wizengamot meant it was less obvious you were pulling all the string but having you and the darker families both supporting me meant that I had something people wouldn't want to challenge. You made everything much easier than it would have been. Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Harry looked a little uncomfortable at the praise. "I still don't think I did that much."

"Well you did." Amelia smiled at him. "You had better get home before you get swamped by reporters. I will be busy here getting the Ministry under control."

She breathed out in a heavy sigh. "Then I have to go through all the laws and start repealing the prejudicial ones and start mending the relationships between the Ministry and the other members of the Wizarding World. And I have to ensure the Auror contingent is up to scratch." Amelia was starting to list everything she had to do.

"I'll tell Susan not to expect you tonight huh?" Hermione asked.

"Thank you." Amelia looked grateful. "Actually, if she can stay with you tonight I would be grateful."

"Sure. She has her own room; she can use it whenever she wants." Hermione replied.

"Thank you. I don't imagine I will be getting home at all for the next few days." Amelia looked tired at the mere thought.

"Just stay safe." Harry cautioned her. "We don't want to lose you. Feel free to stay if you want, we have a few spare rooms."

"Thanks." Amelia replied gratefully.

"As a thought, could you get help from the other Magical Governments or the Muggle one?" Harry queried.

"I have thought about it. I need to rebuild those relationships. If nothing else I hope the Foreign Ministries to help prevent you-know-who from recruiting from their countries."

"That would be useful. What about the Muggle Government?"

"I don't know. I will be meeting with them soon. I will see what help they are wiling offer. I don't know how much help they can be though."

"Don't underestimate them." Hermione cautioned. "They know more about combat than you would think."

"I will talk to them about it."

"Speaking of that, Hermione's mum was thinking of asking her parents to visit." Harry added. "They were in the military. She thought that they might be able to offer a few training tips. Will that be okay?"

"Sure. They are almost immediate family of a witch. If you need to include some non- family members you had best talk to Kingsley or myself first."

"Thanks. Well, we'll let you get to work."

"Oh thank you." Amelia struggled to refrain from groaning. "I'll see you later." She waved to them and left.

"We had better go ourselves." Hermione said. "The others will be waiting."

Harry nodded and let Hestia lead them out. The reporters were waiting to mob them but Moody was one step ahead of them and had the Auror's ready to protect them. They formed up around Harry and his friends and escorted them to the foyer. The reporters where constantly shouting questions until Moody decided to be liberal with the silencing charms and Harry finished the journey in silence.

Hestia threw another silencing charm to prevent anyone from hearing their destination and watched as they stepped though before following.

The others were waiting for them when they got back. The girls were waiting near the fire. Andromeda, Narcissa and Tonks were waiting further away.

"All hail the conquering hero." Daphne called out. "A few words from you and you start the Wizarding World on an entirely new course."

"Not just me. Thank your Father for me." Harry replied looking embarrassed.

"I will."

"How's Auntie?" Susan asked.

"No looking forward to the amount of work she has to do." Hermione answered. "She wanted you know that she probably won't be home for a while, maybe even a few days. She suggested that you might want to stay here for a bit."

"That's Auntie. Always wanting me to be safe." Susan smiled ruefully. "Still, I have a room here so I wouldn't mind staying if I'm allowed."

"Of course you are." Hermione smiled. "Anytime. All of you. You have rooms here for a reason. Feel free to use them."

There was a chorus of thank you's.

"What was Dumbledore's reaction?" Andromeda asked. She and the others had joined them after Harry had greeted his friends.

"He wasn't happy. Tried to tell me off for being reckless." Harry grinned. "We made it totally backfire on him though."

"Good. He needs to learn that he is not Merlin and shouldn't be treated like he is."

"It was fun pulling all that over on the Wizengamot." Narcissa looked to be in a surprising cheerful mood. "I haven't ever had that much fun."

Tonks looked at her. "We're going to have to do something about that. I had better go. I'm sure my former boss and new boss will have things for me to do." She left the room to shed the remainder of her disguise.

"We should go as well." Andromeda gave Harry a hug. "When you are ready we'll come back and start helping you with the family matters. Don't rush though. You have plenty of time."

"Indeed." Narcissa surprised him with a hug as well. "Good morning everyone."

The sisters stepped through the fire.

Tonks returned and paused before leaving. She pulled her wand and flicked it at Harry's head a couple of times. "Much better. I'll see you tomorrow."

Harry felt his hair lengthen. He pulled some round and saw it had been turned back to its vibrant red colour and made longer then it was before.

"Umm, Tonks. It's a little too long."

Tonks just waved and left through the floo.

"It actually looks better at this length, though the clothes don't match anymore." Ginny told him.

"So I have to put girls' clothes back on." Harry grumbled. "And I can't have it this long, how will I explain it to the muggles?"

"True. We'll figure something out before tomorrow." Ginny waved off his concerns. "Now go change."

Harry left, grumbling all the way.

"What's the plan for the rest of the day?" Padma broke the silence.

"Yeah, are we going to over throw the French Ministry next?" Daphne laughed.

"How did you know?" Hermione gasped.

"Yeah, that was supposed to be totally secret." Ginny added. "What else do you know? Are you actually a spy?"

Daphne froze under the stare of the two Gryffindors. "You're joking right?"

Ginny and Hermione remained passive until Hermione cracked and started laughing.

"Honestly Hermione." Ginny scolded her friend. "You set it up so well and you have to go and ruin it by laughing."

"I'm sorry. I'm not good at this." Hermione apologised.

"Don't worry. For your first time it was really good."

"Yeah. You had me going." Daphne complemented her. "I would never have expected you to do something like that."

"Thanks. I know I can be a bit uptight and controlling. I'm trying to relax."

"I have to say, you aren't like I would've expected." Daphne looked intently at older girl.

"Being at home helps." Hermione shrugged. "I'm sorry but Hogwarts and the Wizarding World is stuck in the past. I never felt like I could relax and be myself. At least, not completely. Here I feel like I can be more relaxed. And I need to relax more, I know that Ginny."

Ginny blushed, having been caught nodding vigorously behind her back in agreement.

"Just try not to change." Daphne touched her arm. "I like this Hermione, not the one you pretend to be at Hogwarts."

"Yeah, you're always much more fun away from school." Ginny added.

"I'm sorry but someone has to keep Ron and Harry in line." Hermione exploded. "Do you have any idea just how much trouble we got into even with me to keep us out of most of it? Imagine what would have happened if I hadn't been such a... a..."

"Uptight pain in the arse?" Ginny teased.

Hermione glared as the other girls giggled.

"We had better change as well. I would prefer to study in something more comfortable." Hermione turned on her heel and walked out primly.

Harry was just leaving his room as Hermione walked along the upstairs corridor to her own room.

"Not bad Harry but you might want a swim suit on." Hermione commented looking at the shorts and shirt he had put on.

Harry turned and returned to his room grumbling.

Hermione stripped and looked at her fading scar down her chest in the bathroom mirror. It was nearly gone, she noted. Not completely but near enough. She was looking herself over while she heard Ginny enter their bedroom room, change and leave again. She grinned to herself as she selected her bikini. She would show them how far in the past they were stuck. She pulled a light summer dress over the top, no point in ruining the surprise, and grabbed her books and the bottle of sunscreen.

Harry was leaving his room at the same time as Hermione.

"You've gotten quicker at changing." Hermione commented.

"You've made me practice enough." Harry glared at her.

"Sorry. I'll make it up to you." Hermione gave him a contrite look. "I know this has been hard on you."

"I'm still me Hermione. I'm still Harry. I'm the guy who jumped on a troll to save you and flew on the back of a hippogryph with you to save Sirius and thought you looked amazing at the Yule Ball." Harry ranted. "Just because I have boobs now doesn't mean I'm really any different."

"I know."Hermione apologised. "Maybe I didn't know consciously but I did know. I think we all did. It's why we still refer to you as 'he' or 'him'. I know you are the still same Harry who knows nothing about how to be with a girl and that caused you to stuff up your date with Cho, though I think you were both dreaming if you though it could work so soon after Cedric's death. You are Harry Potter the best guy I have ever known and who I think I could be very happy to be with in the future. But you have to remember that until you can truly be a man again, in body as well as mind, you will have to be able to pass as a girl. It's better to learn now where we can help you than out there where you have no support."

"Yeah, I know." Harry sighed. "It just the whole girls clothes thing. I know I'm a girl at the moment but still."

"I know. I'm sorry about pushing it but it really is the best way of getting used to this." Hermione told him. "Plus I want you to look good. Either as a man or a woman. I was too young to understand the signs when we first met and never re-evaluated my views until now. I want you to have everything you deserve, good clothes, good friends, happiness. That is what I am trying to give you, because I care about you. You're a girl at the moment so the best clothes for you to wear are girls clothes."

"And when I turn male again?"

"We go shopping again and get you male clothing." Hermione answered simply. "You have missed out on so much growing up. I don't want you to miss out on anything else. Besides, the clothes will help you get comfortable with your new body."

"True, I suppose."

Hermione grinned. "There is a better way..." She leant forward to whisper in his ear. "The next time you take a shower, why don't you take the time to 'really' explore yourself."

"Hermione." Harry turned bright red. "What's got into you?"

"I just find home much more relaxing than the Wizarding World and having my friends here is wonderful. Want to help me pull a prank on them?"

"Okay?" Harry looked at his friend cautiously, slowly regaining his composure. "What do I have to do?"

"Just put some sunscreen on my back and legs." Hermione replied a little too casually. "I was going to ask you down there but thinking about it, you may need some warning first so you don't pass out. I've teased you enough just now."

"Thanks." Harry responded dryly. "If you think it will have that much of an impact on me then what aren't you telling me?"

Hermione looked around and, seeing no one, pulled her dress off. Harry flushed at the sudden sight of so much bare flesh.

"That's a rather small bikini, isn't it? How's your scar healing?" Harry tried not to look, flushing slightly.

"It's healing okay. Look." Hermione made sure he was looking before tracing the line of the scar across her chest. "It's nearly faded. It should be totally gone by your birthday."

"Good." Harry managed.

"You're so flustered." Hermione smiled. "And you haven't even seen the best part yet." She turned around.

Harry turned bright red. The bikini Hermione had chosen was not just the smallest she had but it was a thong as well. Harry now had a perfect, unimpeded view of the soft curves his best friend's behind. The implications of what she was asking him sank it and he somehow managed to turn even redder.

"You actually want me to..." Harry stuttered.

Hermione was looking at him over her shoulder, enjoying his response. "Yes. It's a little pointless if you miss areas. You don't want me to burn there do you?"

"No, but..."

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't want you to or didn't trust you." Hermione turned back. "Just try to remain composed while you're actually touching me, it would spoil the joke otherwise."

"Okay." Harry closed his eyes and focused on his Occlumency. "Just don't ask me to do your front as well."

Hermione flushed slightly at that. "Okay, I deserved that." She pulled her dress back on.

"Why are you doing this?" Harry asked as they started down the corridor to head outside.

"They teased me before so I'm getting my own back."

"What did they say to get this response?" Harry was genuinely intrigued.

"Umm. " Hermione looked embarrassed. "They said I was an 'uptight pain in the arse'."

"I hate to say it but you were." Harry told her gently. "You have relaxed over the years but around exam time, especially with the OWLS, you... get a little obsessive."

"Okay, I get it. I'm no longer sorry for embarrassing you before."

"I can live with that." Harry grinned. "Seeing you back home though. I always liked you, flaws and all, but this side of you is a wonderful eye-opener. I hope to see more of it."

"I think maybe you will." Hermione smiled back.

They headed out to the hedged courtyard and joined the others.

"So what are we studying?" Padma asked.

"I was thinking we could do some independent study until lunch. After lunch we need to work on our Animagus forms and do some practical spell casting. I may not be much good in a fight but I want to learn how to hold my own until one of you can help me. We need to do some Occlumency practise as well." Hermione suggested.

"That we can do alone." Susan said. "The duelling practise and the Animagus practise we need to work with people on."

"So what subject have you picked?" Daphne asked Hermione as she picked up a book to start reading.

"I was going to help Harry with Runes. The sooner he gets up to speed with Warding the better." Hermione set her things down on a deck chair next to Harry's and pulled off her dress.

She was glad she had turned to face away from everyone as the surprised reactions from the other girls at the sight of her in her tiny bikini brought a smile to her face. Time to strike. She picked up the bottle of sunscreen.

"What's that?" Tracy asked.

"Sunscreen. It's a muggle product for protecting the skin from sunburn."

"You know there are charm's for that."

"Yes, but this has its perks." Hermione offered the bottle to Harry. "Would you please?"

"Sure." Harry repressed the urge to gulp and focused on his Occlumency as he watched Hermione lie face down on her deck chair.

He knew the other girls were watching on confusion as he opened the bottle and squeezed some of the thick liquid into his hand and began rubbing it into her shoulders and down her back. He could feel his nervousness rise and he got further down her back and it wasn't helped as Hermione gave the occasional moan in pleasure. He had to get more sunscreen a couple of times and as he reached the base of her back and with a deep breath moved his hands below the thin waist band of her thong and applied the sunscreen to her butt eliciting an even more a relaxed sigh.

Harry tried to move on to her legs as quick as possible but knew that he had to do the job properly, if she got a sunburnt butt from him not doing this properly she would probably hex him, and with good reason. He was glad when he was finally able to reach her legs and the relative safety they represented.

When he finally reached her ankles and finished he sat down on his deck chair as Hermione rolled to look at him with a smile.

"Thank you Harry. Your hands felt wonderful. I'll have to get you to do that more often. Would you like me to do your back?"

"Okay."

Hermione sat up and gestured for Harry to lie down so she could return the favour. As she moved, she saw everyone else staring at them, some were flushed and others had dropped jaws. She smirked to herself and the success of her prank as she began rubbing the creamy liquid into Harry's back. When she finished she made sure Harry was facing her as she finished the job by applying the sunscreen to her front and face and got him to do the same to himself.

When they had finally finished to Hermione's exacting standard she offered the bottle to the others. "Anyone else want some? No? Suit yourselves."

They were all too busy staring to reply.

"Come on Harry; pull your chair a little closer." Hermione opened a book and pulled out her own study notes and began running Harry through the work.

With the both of them lying on their stomachs pointing away from the others she knew that the flabbergasted witches were going to be staring at her butt, just to add a little something extra to their torment. While she may have disapproved of the twin's pranks at school, she had learnt one thing. Know when to stop before you take it too far. While it would be tempting to push them further she knew that this was the best point to leave it, while they didn't even realise she was pranking them.

She took great delight in every minute that passed before they managed to regain their composure and the rustling of book pages and parchment indicated they had started their own work. Something that Harry quietly teased her about.

Winky brought lunch out to them and they ate as they worked. Hermione had intended to let Harry talk a break for lunch, honestly. Harry was just making such good progress that she didn't want to stop. Hermione had had to adjust her teaching methods to cater to his practical nature but once she had that right Harry just soaked everything up like a sponge.

It was a short while after they had finished eating and the dishes had been cleared away that Tracy called for everyone's attention.

"If we don't start on our Animagus training we can forget it for today."

"True, just a sec." Harry finished the line he was writing and exchanged his Runes notes for his Animagus ones. "First things first. Are you okay to run us through the reversal procedures?"

"I think so. You're notes were pretty good in that regard." Tracy pulled her own copy and began demonstrating the spells.

It didn't take long until she was happy they could all do them properly and Harry began explaining the first steps of the transformation process. The concepts were easy enough. Changing first their hands and feet followed by entire limbs then the head and torso before attempting the entire body. The one item of interest was that it would take practice to change the person's possessions with them so their first attempts at the full transformation could be hampered by their clothing. Hermione saved the day by suggesting they use of blankets to preserve their modesty, and drew several laughs given her current lack of modesty in comparison to the others.

They all made a start, working in pairs, except for Hermione and Ginny who teamed up with Harry, and taking turns at attempting the change. For the next two hours they worked on the change. They all made some progress, Harry having made the most found it easier to give tips and pointers to allow even the most troubled of the girls to start to make good progress.

Harry had started on his Unicorn form, reasoning that since it was the one to lead him past all the others then it should be a good starting point. He was making brilliant progress. The direct feel of his magic that he had from his martial arts training served him in good stead as he managed to shift both arms and legs fully into the white furred equine limbs. The others had managed to change their hands and were starting on, or making progress on their arms.

Hermione called the practise to a halt stating that they should take a break and suggested a swim. They others responded enthusiastically and they headed en-mass to the pool leaving Hermione and Harry behind.

"Did you enjoy your prank?" Harry grinned and he finished tidying his notes and books.

"Yup." Hermione chirped.

"That was a prank?" Ginny had noticed that the other two Gryffindors hadn't left with the group. "Why didn't you let me in on it?"

"Excuse me?" Hermione glared at her friend. "After your comment before, you deserved it."

"Yeah, okay. I'm sorry." Ginny apologised.

"Thank you." Hermione graciously accepted.

She pulled her wand and whispered a spell and she touched the tip to her breasts underneath her skimpy top.

"Umm?" Harry managed, eyes wide in surprise at his friends act.

"Sticking charm." She answered. "So I don't fall out. You should remember that if you wear yours. You are much more at risk than I am."

"Ya." Harry was still regaining his composure. "Umm. I remember you saying back in the Hospital Wing that you might let me see..."

"My breasts?" Hermione asked. "Yes I did say something like that, didn't I? Go, I'll be there is a second."

Harry nodded and gave the two girls a half wave as he headed off.

"So, that's what you meant by on the train." Ginny released the exclamation she had held since they had started studying.

"Yes. Did you like it?" Hermione teased the younger redhead.

"I don't know about your choice in bikini but... did it really feel that nice?" Ginny finished in a half whisper.

"Yes." Hermione answered intently. "I don't know how he learnt that or maybe it's a natural talent but his hands feel wonderful. I can't wait to feel what they're like when he starts caressing me."

"Even when he was touching your butt?"

"Especially when. I didn't actually want him to stop."

"I'm not sure I could let him do that. Not yet anyway." Ginny blushed a little at the thought. "You certainly got everyone's attention. I think they're all going to want Harry to rub sunscreen into them."

"Well they will just have to take turns. Harry can't be expected to do everyone." Hermione led them towards the pool.

Ginny giggled. "One last question, are you going to tell everyone about the sticking charm?"

"Why? I don't want everyone to think I don't think they can think for themselves."

"There's a lot of thinking in that sentence. You are evil. How did you get so good at pranking?"

"I have learnt from the twins, I just don't like their type of pranks. I'm not one to inflict something on someone."

"Just let them make a fool of themselves."

Hermione grinned at her as they reached the edge of the paving around the pool. She dropped her clothes and kicked off her sandals then ran forward to jump in the pool with a huge splash. A second splash came seconds later as Ginny followed the older girl's lead.

The girls and Harry spent a good hour splashing, swimming, playing and just having fun, being normal teenagers. Harry was still taking time to relax and really start enjoying himself but they refused to let him be distant in anyway, dragging him into their games.

Their play slowed down and finished as they decided to begin their training in the World Room. Hermione managed to thoroughly embarrass Harry when by getting out of the pool right in front of Harry, giving him a very close view of her behind as she lifted herself up onto the side of the pool and an even better view as she bent to get her feet under herself to stand. She turned around to stretch.

"Come on Harry, time for you to teach us how it's done." Hermione gestured for him to hurry up.

"Coming." Harry climbed out of the pool. "We should change."

"Why, are we distracting you?" Daphne teased him.

"Just a little."

"Well I'm quite comfortable." Hermione commented. "Although we should have proper shoes on if we're going to be duelling."

"Very true." Susan agreed.

The girls all summoned their sneakers and socks and began putting them on.

"Harry? Your shoes?" Ginny prompted.

"Oh, yeah, okay." Harry followed their lead and followed the still scantily clad girls back into the house.

Harry suggested the four girls who were joining him in the Auror training should practice their accuracy with the clay's while he worked with the others improve their duelling ability. None of them were bad at duelling but lacked the certain something that gave Harry and the other four the ability to sustain a long and intense duel. Still, Harry thought that if they could learn to work together then they could defend themselves and take down an opponent quickly or protect themselves for long enough to be rescued or escape. Something Harry hoped to be able to help them with.

Harry ran them through team work and dodging exercises and soon had them hot a sweaty, they commented more than once on how glad they were that they were as scantily dressed as they were. Harry declined to comment.

Harry left them to practise their casting and accuracy after an hour. He felt ready to start trying to build some wards and left the wide open expanse of carefully care for grass of the golf course and crossed the bridge to walk to the wide fields near the manor's, beyond the forest the filled the void between the golf course, the fields, the beach and the sand dunes.

He reached the fields and used some simple transfiguration to create several pillars of stone and began weaving various wards, one on each pillar. He tried some simple household ones, then wards to block Apparation and Port-Key's, then, with his successes there, he started moving on to defensive wards. He had a few mishaps to start with but soon got his head around what he was doing and he found himself building the wards easily. He finished off his last one and look around proudly at his handy work. The energy of his wards could be easily felt, standing out from the magic of the room. They felt good, that was the only way he could describe them. They didn't have the crisp professional feel of the wards surrounding Hermione's home but they felt solid and well balanced. Some of his earlier attempts had an unbalanced feel that caused them to fail rapidly.

He returned to the others and found them splashing about in the river. They called out to him and waved for him to join them.

"So, how long have you all been having fun?" Harry teased them a little.

"Less than than half an hour." Hermione replied. "But given that you've been gone for over an hour, I think we had earned a break. You need to practice your casting as well."

"In a bit. Just let me get some energy back. That took a bit of effort." Harry pulled off his shoes and joined them in the river.

"So, how are you doing, having spent all this time in a bikini?" Ginny asked teasingly.

"I actually got so focused on what I was doing I didn't notice that it was all I had on."

"That shows you can be comfortable." Ginny smiled. "That's a good sign."

"It's only been a couple of weeks but so much has happened, it's kept my mind off it for the most part."

"I'll say." Hannah entered the conversation. "Sometimes I forget you are a girl at the moment. I think we all still think of you as a guy."

"I know I do." Harry replied. "It's why I'm still a little uncomfortable with myself."

"You'll cope." Daphne assured him.

"I can actually see that I will now. I couldn't before." Harry confessed.

"Good." Hermione smiled. "Have some fun and relax. You can do some casting practice later. How did your warding go?"

"Good I think. You can have a look at them if you want."

"Thanks. I'll take a look later, though I don't know how much my opinion will be worth, you're better at wards than I am." Hermione shrugged. "Still it will be educational looking at yours."

"There's a novelty, you're actually learning something from me." Harry teased.

Hermione stood suddenly to glare at him causing her breasts to bounce within the scant confines of her tiny bikini. Harry blushed as he caught himself staring as their movement subsided.

"I've learnt a lot from you." She growled firmly. "If you recall you were tutoring me and the other fifth years in the DA. And don't forget the sixth and seventh years."

"Yeah, but you were always helping me prepare..."

"Maybe but I still learnt a lot from you. You taught everyone the Patronus spell and that's one that adults struggle to learn. Stop doubting yourself."

"Okay, I'll try."

"Succeed." Daphne stated. "You still have to teach me and Tracy the Patronus charm since we never got the option of joining your little club."

"Sorry about that but with Malfoy and the Umbridge's little toadies we couldn't trust your house." Hermione explained sitting back down into the water.

"I understand." Daphne relaxed back. "You are going to correct that right?"

"We'll work something out." Harry promised as he finally joined the girls.

Susan was about to splash Harry but Hermione noticed and shot her a warning look and shook her head causing the Hufflepuff girl to subside. The group relaxed chatting amongst themselves about everyday things, getting to know each other more. Susan quietly moved next to Hermione.

"Can I ask why?"

"Harry looked tired. I know you were just playing but he needed to rest." Hermione explained quietly.

"Thanks. He hides it well doesn't he, I didn't notice."

"Once you learn the signs it's pretty easy but he hates the appearance of being weak or feeling like he's a burden on others. He has massive self-esteem issues from how badly his aunt and uncle treated him growing up."

"Which is why he needs our help so much." Susan realised to herself out loud. "Thanks for explaining it to me."

"Hey, what are you two whispering about?" Tracy asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Susan poked her tongue out at her Slytherin friend and splashing a little water at her.

That set the girls laughing.

A short while later Harry left to put in some casting practice with the clay pigeons. He summoned Dobby to operate the device as he targeted the clay's as flew on their arcing trajectories. It didn't take long before he was hitting the clay first time every time. Dobby began launching the disks as rapidly as he could but couldn't outpace Harry's rapid and accurate casting.

"That's enough." Harry told the elf. "I think we'll need more trap's before you'll be able to challenge me."

"I's could uses magic?" Dobby offered.

"Okay. Go for it." Harry readied himself.

Dobby launched several clays into the air and Harry shot them all down.

"Sorry, you may be able to throw several but they are too predictable and too easy to hit." Harry told the elf sadly.

"I's is sorry." Dobby's ears drooped. "I's can't do better."

"It's okay. You tried you best." Harry reassured the upset elf. "We have more traps coming soon so it will be fine."

Dobby left in a happier frame of mind and returned to what he was doing while Harry walked down to the river to rejoin the girls.

As he reached them they all started complementing him on his display of marksmanship. He blushed at the complements but they refused to let him deflect them and pulled him into the group and took turns hugging him firmly. Harry was totally red by the time they had finished but had managed to start returning their affection in the form of gentle hugs. He could feel his embarrassment and retreated saying he wanted to do more studying. They watched his long red hair streamed out behind his female bikini clad body as he fled to regain his composure.

"We did go a little overboard." Hermione said sadly and she watched him disappear into the Clubhouse. "He's still not used to so much attention."

"Does that mean we should go easier on him?" Daphne asked.

"I'm not sure." Hermione pondered. "We can't keep doing that just yet but one at a time should be okay now. What I'm really worried about is if we should tell him what we are doing."

"How do you mean?" Tracy asked.

"Harry doesn't like secrets and he doesn't like being manipulated. I'm concerned that may be how he will view our actions if he finds out."

"Good point." Hannah agreed. "You, however, know him best. You will have to decide if and how you tell him. You may be right about telling him though."

"Just make sure he knows we a truly only trying to help him." Daphne added to the agreement of the other girls.

"What do we do now?" Padma asked.

"We wait a few minute and then walk slowly back and join him." Hermione said. "Just pretend like he didn't just run off in embarrassment."

"Easily done." Susan nodded.

They stood in quietly on the river bank; the rippling water behind them was the only noise breaking the silence.

"I think that's long enough." Hermione said finally. "Let's go."

She led the group back to the private courtyard where Harry was already back into his books. He glanced up and nodded to them in greeting returning to his books. Hermione looked at the other girls, indicating that he was fine.

They settled down in their chairs a picked up the books, resuming where they left off earlier that afternoon. They only managed another hour of study before they got restless and after some looks and giggles began another mass exodus to the pool.

Hannah stretched out and floated on her back in the cool water looking up and the waning afternoon sun and sighed in happiness. "I don't know why but no matter how good the charms are fake sunlight never feels as good as the real sun."

"Just goes to show you can't beat perfection." Hermione agreed.

"So that's why Tom keeps losing to Harry." Ginny giggled.

That comment set the girls laughing and Harry spluttering as he lost his balance and slipped under the water momentarily.

"Did you have to say that?" He demanded, pushing his long hair out of his face.

'Yes. It was funny." Ginny replied.

"You all seem to be in a good mood." Tonks surprised them with her presence.

"Hey Tonks." Harry greeted the young Auror. "What are you doing here?"

"Delivering stuff, and messages." Tonks looked them over. "That looks like fun. I wish I had time to join you."

"Feel free. What have you got for us?"

"Some licenses. You all now have official permission to carry multiple wands and I have Apparation licenses for you as well. I managed to get some Auror wand holsters too; hopefully you'll have enough for all your wands but if not just let me know."

"Thanks for the holsters and wand licenses but Apparation licenses too?" Hermione asked in surprise. "Aren't we too young for those?"

"Normally. But given your situation Madam, I mean Minister Bones, thought that you should start learning as a precaution. So, tomorrow's lesson will be about Apparation, Port-Keys and a few other things we feel you should all know. So make sure none of you are late." Tonks instructed.

"To a lesson like that? Not a chance!" Daphne gushed.

"Good."

Hermione swam to the edge of the pool and pulled herself out. She pulled her wand out of her things and dried herself to accept the documents from Tonks. Tonks on the other hand was distracted by Hermione's bikini, or lack of it.

"Nice show your putting on there, Hermione." Tonks grinned.

"What's your point?" Hermione fired back as she carefully placed the parchments in amongst her things so they wouldn't get wet or blown away.

"It's just not a look I would have expected of you."

"Perhaps you need to re-evaluate your expectations."

"Perhaps, but later. I need to go. I've been summoned to an Order meeting. I expect Dumbledore wants to yell at me but I'm going to tell him that Kingsley, Hestia and I are resigning and that he is under a direct order of the Minister of Magic herself to pass on any intelligence he learns regarding you-know-who and the Death Eaters." Tonks said.

"Should you really be telling us all that?" Tracy asked.

"Nothing classified in there." Tonks shrugged. "Minister Bones wants to keep Harry in the loop on anything regarding you-know-who, given his place in the situation."

"You really need to get over the whole 'I'm too scared to say his name' business." Harry commented.

"Yeah. One day. Maybe." Tonks turned as headed off with a wave. "Sorry, lots to do. If I get time later I might join you though. Have you got a spare bikini I could borrow Hermione?"

"Not like this but you might find one of the other girls has one that you could fit yourself into. If you ask nicely." Hermione replied primly before jumping back into the pool.

Tonks just laughed as she disappeared back into the house.

!HPEaSE!

"Now that we are assembled, Nymphadora, would you be so kind as to enlighten us as to how we were unaware of Harry's presence at the trial today?"

The afore mentioned Auror glared at the aged wizard. "You know I don't like my name Dumbledore, please have enough respect for me to not use it."

"My apologies, Ms Tonks, could you answer my question?" Dumbledore was barely restraining himself in his desire to find out why he had not been informed of Harry's actions.

"My oaths as an Auror forbade me from telling you. My only reason for being here is to inform you that I, Shacklebolt and Jones are resigning from the Order. We joined to fight Death Eaters because the Ministry wouldn't. Now that things have changed, it is no longer necessary. I have also been asked by Minister Bones pass on this directive." Tonks pulled out a scroll and tossed it to him. "It's an Order to pass on any intelligence you learn about the movements, actions and activities of any Death Eater, their supporters or you-know-who himself."

Dumbledore looked the scroll over and closed it. "She is not ordering us to disband?"

"You are allowed to gather and call yourselves what you want. If any of you engage in any vigilante actions that exceed the authority of private citizens then you will face arrest and prosecution." Tonks spoke in a formal manner, reminding everyone that, junior Auror she may be; she was still definitely an Auror.

"Do you have any new information that needs to be relayed?" Tonks finished.

There was silence.

"No? Very well." Tonks turned to leave. "I'm sure you know how to reach the Minister if you learn anything."

Tonks walked out.

Remus Lupin watched her go, ceased with indecision. Sirius's loss was still too raw. But. Harry would be feeling it too. He made his decision and practically jumped out of his chair to follow the Metamorphmagus.

"Tonks, wait up." He called to the young Auror as she made to throw floo powder into the fire.

"Yes?" Tonks quirked an eyebrow at the approaching werewolf.

"Is Harry okay?"

"As well as can be expected." Tonks paused. "I think he hasn't truly dealt with it yet, he seems to be just keeping busy and focusing on the future. He's with his friends though so they'll be there for him when he needs it."

"I should be there too." Remus slumped.

"Yes, you should. I can mention you to him if you want but you had better be putting Harry first and not have any ulterior motives or you will be in for the arse kicking of a lifetime." Tonks glared at him.

"I promise."

"It's not me you need to promise too. I'll talk to him and let you know." Tonks looked him over. "I have to go."

With a cry of 'The Ministry of Magic' Tonks vanished through the flame. Remus stared in to the flames after her.

!HPEaSE!

Harry and the girls were back in the pool after another round of studying when Hermione's parents returned home. They went out to say hello to the splashing teens before leaving to change out of their work clothes.

"Did you have a good day?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, it's been good." Hermione replied.

"How did the trial go?"

"Really well. Harry and Madam Bones had Umbridge on the back foot right from the start. Minister Bones I should say.

"She got elected then?"

"Yes. A few words from Harry was all it took."

"She asked if Susan could stay here for a few days until she gets things organised at the Ministry." Harry added cautiously.

"That's fine." Emily replied cheerfully. "Is anyone else staying for dinner?"

Luna nodded vigorously but the other girls shook their heads.

"Just the two extra's then." Emily nodded. "That's okay. Are you others going to stay over sometime?"

"Definitely." Daphne replied happily. "We were planning in doing some exploring in the World Room next weekend."

"We will probably spend a few night here later in the summer." Tracy added. "It's probably better to give our parents time to get used to the situation."

"Fair enough. We'll leave you to your fun." Daniel gave them a brief wave as he and his wife returned to the house. "Winky told us that dinner will be ready in about 30 minutes."

"Okay. Thanks." Hermione called after them and pulled herself out of the pool and grabbed her towel. "Come on. We need to get dry, there are a couple of things we need to do since we've spend so much time in the sun."

"Huh?" We the general consensus amongst the girls as they and Harry followed the scantily clad witch back to the enclosed courtyard.

Hermione reached into her things and pulled out a few bottles. "After-sun Gel and Moisturising Lotion. They're muggle products but they're pretty good. We put the gel on now and the lotion once it's soaked in a bit."

"And the point of this?" Tracy asked.

"Good skin care." Hermione winked at her. "Harry, could you do my back please?"

"Um. Your whole back?" Harry asked nervously, blushing a little.

"No. Just the hard to reach bits." Hermione reassured him.

The other girls watched Hermione toss the bottle to Harry and offer the other bottle of gel to them. Ginny was the first to catch on, remembering her conversation with her house mate on the train.

"Harry, could you do my back too?"

"Umm. Okay." Harry nodded.

The others girls shared a glance but before they could add their own requests Hermione cut them off. "He can't do everyone's back."

"Mine then." Susan cut in then added, to prevent herself getting hurt. "He could do three others later with the other one."

"Not me." Padma said quietly. "I'm not ready for that yet."

"That's okay." Harry assured her. "I'm a little unsure about this myself."

Daphne was deep in thought. "I'll pass this time too."

"Really?" Susan wasn't the only one looking at her in surprise.

"Yes." Daphne stepped forward and lightly touched Harry's arm in a surprisingly intimate gesture. "But I want you to do my back all three times tomorrow."

"You sneaky little..." Susan glared at the Slytherin girl before grinning ruefully. "Nice move."

"Thank you." Daphne gave a little bow before grabbing the spare bottle. "In appreciation of my cunning, you can do my back."

"Ok." The Hufflepuff laughed. "If you do mine with the lotion later."

"Done."

The byplay was watched by a content Hermione as her back was being rubbed by Harry. The other girls used it as their cue to begin helping each other and the gel bottle were passed around the group.

Once the group had been lathered up fully the group started packing up their things from all their studying. Ginny and Susan were being questioned about how it felt having Harry rub her. Not that they needed to, their happy grins revealed just how good it felt.

Having finished packing they relaxed chatting until it was time for the lotion. This went smoother than the previous session and Tracy, Hannah and Luna were carrying their study gear back to the house with very happy smiles afterwards.

Hermione's parents watched the group walk across the backyard. Daniel started in shock when he saw the tiny bikini Hermione had chosen. Due to having only just put the lotion on, they had foregone their other clothes for comfort until it had finished soaking into their skin.

Emily placed a restraining hand on her husband's arm. "Let it go, she's not a little girl anymore."

Daniel nodded. "Doesn't mean I like it. Dammit. I'm supposed to be able to threaten him and scare him into treating my daughter properly. But how do you threaten a guy who's already dealing with a psychotic madman, deadly situations and can wreak massive devastation just by losing his temper. At least I know he'll treat her right.

"And the others too." Emily teased before answering seriously. "She's happy. Really happy. That will always be enough for me."

"Yeah. Can't argue with that."

"Even though you want to?"

#Smack# Daniel gently but firmly spanked his wife on the arse as he walked away while she chuckled at him.

Harry and his friends bid the girls who had to leave goodbye and, after a quick visit to the bathroom, they joined Hermione's parents at the table. Susan bore the brunt of the dinner conversation from Emily and Daniel. They hadn't had a chance to talk to the young Hufflepuff since the day in Diagon Alley and enjoyed the chance to catch up.

After dinner they settled in the main house's lounge and allowed Hermione to spend time with her parents while they relaxed together. Harry only stayed a little time though before leaving. There were a few things he wanted to do.

He headed up to his bedroom and entered his hidden study. He knew that he could use the World Room or the Duelling room for this but he felt the need to keep this hidden, at least for the time being. Now that he could create basic wards he raised a simple one to contain his magic in case something went wrong.

He settled down and placed his wand on the ground in front of him and tried the Lumos spell again. It took a couple of attempts to get his focus right but his wand lit up brightly. He tied again, this time trying to create the light at his finger tips. It took longer but he did manage it. Several more attempts and he could do it non-verbally. He kept practicing until he could generate the light at either his wand or either hand with a simple focused thought. Bolstered by this success he moved on to another spell, the disarming curse.

It was getting late and the girls decided to have a little fun. This meant that they needed to find Harry. They headed up to his room and found it empty but a quick question to Winky and they found out he was in his private study. Hermione volunteered to get Harry and left the room to use the door in the hallway. She found him, behind a ward barrier, firing spells in rapid succession from either or both hands or his wand, which was lying on the ground in front of him.

"Wow!" Hermione gasped, staring at him. "That's incredible."

"Yeah, I suppose it is." Harry nodded. "But it's pretty simple once you figure out how to do it."

"Why try casting spells from your wand when you're not holding it though? I mean, it is impressive that you can, I would never have thought it possible, but is it practical?"

"I dunno. Maybe if I lose my wand in a fight it could help by have a spell come from an unexpected angle."

"Okay. Do you think you could teach me?"

"Umm. I have no idea. I don't really know how I'm doing it."

"That is just so you Harry." Hermione chuckled a little.

Harry grinned back ruefully. "Yeah. Just another reason why I'm so different."

"That's just how you are Harry. So don't worry. We like you anyway."

"Thanks. So I assume you're here for a reason?"

"Yeah. We are going to have a little fun before bed, please join us."

"Fun?"

"Okay, girl-time, but we really want you to join us."

"Oh alright." Harry picked up his wand and dropped the ward.

Hermione smiled then a frown marred her face.

"Are you okay?" Harry wasn't the most observant guy but he wouldn't miss that sort of expression change when he was watching her.

"Yeah. I just feel that I should probably tell you something. I know you don't like secrets."

"What is it Hermione?"

"Please just hear me out before you respond." Hermione paused to take a deep breath. "We've been manipulating you. Not really a lot but still. We've been working together to help you open up. First it was me and Ginny but Daphne and Susan are getting in on it as well. I know you hate secrets which is why I'm telling you this. I didn't want you to find out and get angry. I've noticed that you are uncomfortable being touched and you keep things in a lot. Given your upbringing it's understandable but we want to help you open up so and include us more. I've noticed you don't touch people and you either flinch or freeze when I touch or hug you. We want you to be able to really enjoy being touched and hugged. I honestly believe that you will be happier and have a better life if you can touch and be touched by us and enjoy it."

Hermione paused to gauge Harry's reaction. He hadn't exploded yet and didn't look like he would, though his expression was odd, and took heart in it. "We have been trying to break the fears and discomfort you have in touching and being touched. The sunscreen thing was a part of it. We've been trying to touch you more, when it's appropriate, to help you learn that touching can be nice, even wanted. Today just took it a lot further. Don't think that getting you to put sunscreen on me was just for that, I really did want to play that prank on them but I also want you to be able to touch me freely and enjoy it. I really enjoyed it too."

"And you are telling me this now because?" Harry still wasn't giving any indication of how he felt.

"I was thinking getting the others to start giving you little hugs, like when they arrive or leave or other times when it might be appropriate. It would be a big step for you to allow so many people that close and I felt bad that I might be springing it on you."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I want to help you." Hermione declared. "You shouldn't be afraid of being touched. Being able to touch and be touched will help you in want ever relationships get pursued. Touch can be a wonderfully intimate thing but you have to be comfortable with it. I felt you tensing while I was rubbing you this morning. You should be able to enjoy being rubbed down or even rubbing a girl down."

"So you were trying to help me?"

"Yes. I promise you. Me and all the other girls."

"And all the girls clothes and your suggestion this morning?"

"To help you get comfortable with your new body. You know I had my concerns that you wouldn't get changed back. With the Animagus forms I'm wondering if that's your only way back to being male. Even if something else gets figured out, I think you might find you keep this form. In either case you have to able to pass as a girl. That means clothes, and hair and makeup."

"I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet. The clothes are hard enough, though it's getting easier."

"I know. With everything that's happened, it's easy to forget that it's not even been two weeks since your change. I know you feel like I'm rushing you and it's possible I am but the sooner you get comfortable the sooner you can go out and really enjoy life. I really only want your happiness Harry, we all do. Please believe me on that. I can't imagine how hard this is for you but please trust me. These things may be girly but it will help you open up and learn how to be and be comfortable both as a girl and as a person. Please join us." Hermione's were tearing with her emotional plea.

Harry stood in silence, studying his house mate. The real question, he decided was if he trusted her to have his best interests at heart. Of his two best friends she had never really gone against him. Gotten angry at him sure but she had never betrayed him. Not even when he had his Firebolt confiscated. Yes he had been angry but she hadn't been trying to hurt or punish him. She had only wanted to ensure his safety. Yes, he did trust her. She had shown that she would side with him over anyone, even Dumbledore.

"Yes. I do trust you Hermione. This is going to be really embarrassing though." Harry finally spoke, giving her a gentle smile.

Relief and joy flooded her face and she engulfed him in a massive hug. "Thank you, Harry. Thank you for trusting me. You won't regret it."

She released him and stepped back. "It was always going to be really embarrassing for you though. The best advice I can offer is to do it anyway. The soon you start, the sooner you will get used to it and then it won't feel embarrassing anymore. It will just be another day in your totally messed up life."

"Oh, well, when you put it like that, it makes it sound almost normal." Harry rolled his eyes. "For me at least."

Hermione giggled a little, still calming from her outburst of emotions. "Come on, they're waiting for us."

They left via the door to the hallway and entered Harry's bedroom to find that Tonks had joined Ginny, Susan and Luna.

"Wotcher Tonks." Harry greeted the Auror.

"Wotcher Harry. Hope you don't mind me dropping in?"

"Not at all. Anything new?" Harry joined the others on the bed.

"Dumbledore wasn't happy too happy with me when I delivered my message."

"I can imagine." Harry grinned.

"One interesting thing happened, Remus asked how you were. I think he may genuinely want to help."

"That's good to know." Harry responded thoughtfully.

"I know he was a really good DADA teacher, does he have any other talents?" Susan asked.

"You wouldn't think but he's a really good dueller. It's due to his heightened senses and reflexes." Tonks answered. "From what I remember he used to spar with James and Sirius to help them with their Auror training."

"Really?" Harry looked shocked. "I never knew that. There are so many things about my parents and godfather I don't know."

"I only remember bits and pieces. Certain things trigger my memories from back then. I was pretty young." Tonks explained. "Remus should be able to tell you more but I think that with how your parents died he tries not to remember those times too much. It's too painful for him."

"I can understand that." Harry slumped. "I still want to know though."

Tonks ruffled his hair. "I know."

"Hey." Harry pushed her hand away. "Leave my hair alone. Speaking of which, you need to make it a little shorter."

"Why? It looks better longer."

"Okay, if you say so. I'll let you tell the muggles I have to see tomorrow how it grew so much in a single day."

"Oh, alright." Tonks pulled her wand and adjusted Harry's hair. "There you go. It's only a little bit longer than it was. If you make it a little longer each week then no one will notice."

"Okay." Harry nodded.

"Can you teach us that spell?" Susan asked.

"Sure." Tonks replied cheerfully.

The spell lesson soon became a hair lesson and Harry began learning how to look after his much longer hair properly.

Tonks didn't stay much longer and Harry and the girls made sure to practice their Occlumency before retiring for the night.

As they left Hermione gave Harry a strong goodnight hug and gestured for the other girls to do the same. They were more than happy to comply as first Ginny then Luna hugged him firmly as they bid him goodnight. Susan waited for her turn and gave Harry the experience of her larger breasts squishing up against his as she whispered 'sweet dreams' in his ear.

Harry definitely had 'sweet dreams' after that.

!HPEaSE!

"Good evening Daphne. Did you have a good day?" Lord Greengrass greeted his daughter.

"Yes father. A very good day. It's not every day you see the Minister of Magic replaced with only a few well placed words." Daphne grinned at the memory.

"How is young Harry doing?"

"Very well. He was practicing wards this afternoon and making very good progress."

"Interesting. Do you think he could have any talent with enchantment? I know it's not normally a Potter talent..."

"But if any Potter was to pick it up, it would be Harry." Daphne finished. "Why?"

"From what I've heard Lord Potter is rather more powerful than the average wizard."

"That's an understatement."

"Do you think it would be possible for him to enchant Basilisk hide?"

Daphne gasped. "If anyone could, it would be him. I'll start working with him on the enchantment rune sequences tomorrow and see how he does."

"Thank you. If he does prove capable and if he has the power to affect the hide then not only could he strengthen the defensive properties of the hide but he could allow it to adjust its size."

Daphne's eyes widened. "How much? Just enough to accommodate our normal growth or more?"

"More? What did you have in mind?" Lord Greengrass was intrigued.

"Just curious." Daphne avoided the question. "Well?"

"It really depends on how powerful he is. It's possible he could give a wide range of flexibility to the hide."

"Interesting." Daphne pondered the possibilities. "Thank you. I will let you know how it goes."

Daphne left. If he could affect the hide as much as she hoped then they could still be protected in their animagus forms, which would be a huge advantage. There were other enchantments that could be applied as well that would be beneficial. This was an idea that had merit investigating further. She would talk to Harry and Hermione tomorrow.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

As an apology for the delay, here is a second chapter in the same day for your reading pleasure.

I may not have been totally happy about the trial in the previous chapter, but I was not idle.

**Chapter 17**

Harry's day started as normal but went downhill pretty quick.

"I don't know what I'm doing wrong." Harry complained.

It was towards the end of his martial arts lesson and his Sensei was so impressed by Harry's progress with the sword that he thought they could try sparring. Harry was hyped. The moves had come easily and Harry was really enjoying his progress.

The sparring was not going well though.

"Your moves are correct but your setup is wrong. Trying moving closer." John suggested.

"I tried that but the distance felt wrong. I don't get this." Harry dropped the sword. "I'm too agitated to focus, I'll try to calm down or I'll never get better."

"Good idea." John nodded. "I'll think about it and see if I can come up with something."

John watched the young woman start practising a kata to calm herself. Normally he knew that it would be a flaw it the student's technique but the instincts of this girl were already better than most. The speed that she had picked up the staff and hand to hand techniques was astounding and she had learnt the sword techniques as quickly as everything else, so why could she not apply them. He couldn't understand what was going wrong.

"Feeling better?" He asked.

"Yes, thanks. I just don't understand what I was doing wrong." Harry looked downcast. "Any suggestions?"

"Not right now. Perhaps we should call it a day. I think you're still too agitated to focus properly."

"Yeah. Okay. Have a good weekend, I'll see you Monday." Harry began packing up.

"Goodbye Harry. You have a good weekend too."

Harry headed home much slower than normal.

"You okay Harry." Tonks asked quietly from under the cloak.

"Yeah. I just don't know what I was doing wrong." Harry replied. "Maybe I'm just not suited to that style of swordsmanship."

"Don't give up. I think you'll figure it out." Tonks reassured the young wizard.

Harry tossed a half smile in the direction of her voice. They finished the journey home in silence.

Harry's mood was noticed by the girls as he passed through the upstairs living area where they had all gathered prior to their morning training session.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked as she saw him plod up the stairs.

"Yeah. My training session didn't go so well. I thought I was doing really well but when I did a light sparring session today if all went to pieces." Harry paused and felt himself tearing and fled. "I need a shower."

"Tonks?" Hermione questioned the Auror. "What happened? He looked like he was going to cry."

"I didn't think it went that badly." Tonks paused in mid-step. "He got the moves down right but when he was sparing he just couldn't set himself up right. I guess it hit him harder than I thought."

"It could be more than just that." Tracy began hesitantly.

"Go on." Hermione prompted.

"Well, men and women have different hormones." Tracy began.

"Oh, I get it." Hermione interrupted. "You're probably right."

"Can you let her finish for those who don't" Ginny shot her a dark look.

"Sorry." Hermione apologised quietly.

Tracy was grinning as she continued. "Harry is still going to be adjusting to the changes in how his body works. Women have a monthly cycle so their hormone levels keep changing. We get hit with this during puberty but it's expected. Harry's getting everything at once. He's going to have his off days when things get out of his control. We're going to need to talk to him about this and soon." She finished with much more serious expression.

"That conversation isn't going to go well." Ginny commented.

"No, I can't imagine it would." Tonks grinned. "There are something's guy's don't want to know."

"Will Harry be okay?" Susan asked.

"I think so." Hermione looked towards the door that led down to the bedrooms. "He just needs some time."

!NPEaSE!

Harry got out of the shower at looked at himself in the mirror. The female body looking back at him was no longer the stranger it used to be. He was still uncomfortable without a towel wrapped around his female body but he could now shower without having a persistent blush.

The face, framed by long red hair turn black by the water, still looked upset. He had stopped his tears with some Occlumency practice but he hadn't gotten rid of the feelings of inadequacy that had been growing since his martial arts lesson. Now, looking in the mirror and seeing his expression, those feeling were flooding back .

He returned to the bedroom, not caring that the towel had fallen on the way. He sat on the bed trying to figure out what went wrong. He sword lessons with The Assessor were going so well, why was he suffering here. He summoned Gryffindor's blade and felt the cool weight of the hilt as he stared down the length of the coldly glistening blade.

Standing he ran through the moves the Assessor has drilled into him. They felt right. He followed up with the katas he had learnt that morning and was given the same sense of rightness.

What was missing? What was it that he couldn't see? He was sure it was right in front of him. He studied the long blade again and was about to return it to its case in his private study when he clicked. It was right in front of him.

His eagerness in checking this idea triggered his magic as he headed for his martial arts practice weapons and the bag they were in leapt to meet his outstretched hand. He laid the bag down on the bed so he could pull the practice sword out and laid it next to the goblin-made blade. It was noticeably shorter, several inches in fact. It had a longer hilt but the actual blade portion was much shorter.

Harry relaxed. Kind of obvious when you thought about it. All his prior training was with much longer blade so all his instincts were tuned to a blade of that length. No wonder he struggled. His wand leapt to his hand, responding to his sudden idea, and a simple transfiguration spell corrected the length of the blade to match Gryffindor's sword and rebalanced the blade.

He hefted the practise blade and repeated the morning's lessons. There was just a little something, subtle, but there, that made it feel better. Harry grinned; he may just have solved his problem.

His good mood was ruined when Tonks, fed up with waiting for the young Gryffindor, came barging in to check on him.

"'Wotcher Harry. You oka... wow, nice rack." That was as far as Tonks got.

Harry had spun round at the door flying open and his eyes hardened as the air around him crackled. The next thing Tonks knew was the full body impact launching her from the room and slamming the door closed.

"Tonks? Are you okay?" Ginny asked, having followed the older woman.

"Yeah, I think." Tonks groaned from the floor. "Note to self, knock before entering."

Ginny giggled. "We did warn you not to barge in."

"Yeah. He makes his point much more clearly though." Tonks struggled but managed to get back on her feet. "I need to sit down."

The other girls were happily mocking the young Auror at having been soundly beaten by Harry so easily as Tracy gave a quick once over. She found nothing more than a couple of bruises and happily scolded her for failing to respect Harry's privacy properly.

Harry arrived a few minute later. Hair was still damp but had been pulled back in a pony tail but he was more appropriately attired.

"You okay Tonks?" He asked.

"Yeah. Just a bruise. Sorry about just barging in."

"Yeah, well, don't do it again."

"I promise. That is definitely learning things the hard way."

"Now that you're not sweaty and smelly anymore." Susan stepped forward to hug him. "I can give you a proper good morning."

This, of course, prompted the other girls into action.

Harry, having been well hugged by the assembled girls, finally managed to head to get himself breakfast. As he entered the kitchen area Dobby appeared and handed him a tray of food. The excitable elf opened his mouth to talk but was stopped by Winky appearing next to him and grabbing his ear painfully to drag him away.

"Master Harry is needing to be eating his breakfast, not talking to lazy elf like you!" She scolded as they vanished.

Harry looked back at the others with a bemused expression. "Well that was unexpected."

"You had better start eating before she starts scolding you too." Ginny replied through her chuckles.

Harry nodded and sat down at the bar counter adjacent to the kitchen to eat.

"Oh, Harry, did you solve your problem?" Tonks asked. "You seem much happier."

Harry struggled to swallow so he could reply. "Yeah. It was actually a really simple, silly mistake that I should've figured out sooner."

"Oh. Good then." Tonks paused. "Care to fill us in?"

"Nope." Harry grinned evilly. "You'll just have to wait."

Tonks pouted but let Harry eat.

!HPEaSE!

Hestia Jones looked at the assembled witches and theoretical wizard. "Today we are going to start with Apparation. I'm planning to show you all Port-keys, the Disillusionment charm and the Patronus charm. We are also going to look at wards to prevent Apparation and Port-keys and how to break them."

"All that today?" Ginny asked.

"Probably not. We can continue next week as well. There are also some detection spells that are useful. Later on we will also look a building you as a cohesive team. I assume that you are all practicing your duelling?"

"A little." Hermione answered. "Mostly casting practice."

"Better than nothing. I know Hermione, Tracy, Hannah and Padma aren't planning on taking part in direct combat but you are still a part of the team and will need to hold your own. There are things you can do to support the others. Distractions, healing, long range spells, dealing with wards, or even achieving the mission goal while the others protect you."

"That actually sounds impressive." Hannah commented happily.

"You won't be saying that after you've been under fire." Hestia growled at the Hufflepuff.

Hannah shrunk back, chastised.

"Let's get busy." Hestia began explaining Apparation to the young students.

Tonks headed a short distance away and set up a target for them to Apparate to so she could monitor their arrivals, and help if they had an accident.

After the full briefing on the how to's, what to's and what not to's they were ready to begin practicing. Harry went first and surprised them with a resounding double crack after a few minutes as he shifted to his target near Tonks. Tonks gave him a quick check over to ensure he was intact and pronounced him fine before sending him back. Another double crack and Harry was standing in front of Hestia.

"Finally! A magic method of getting around quickly that doesn't end with me on the floor." Harry was ecstatic. "The squeezing sensation is a little uncomfortable but I can live with it."

The girls laughed, particularly Hermione and Ginny who were more familiar with his issues with flooing and Port-keys.

"Okay Harry, you did great. Practice a few more times and we'll let you practice short distance Apparation on your own while we work through the others. Just stay within sight of us for the moment." Hestia told him after she checked him over.

Harry nodded and began popping back and forth, trying both shorter and longer distances and seeing how quickly he could Disapparate immediately after he Apparated and trying to be quieter. Hestia was working through the other girls quickly as they were picking it up nearly as quickly as Harry.

Only Ginny and Hannah had any problems, and minor ones at that. Ginny accidentally gave herself a haircut as she left a few inches of hair behind, easily rectified by Hestia, and Hannah was very glad she was wearing her bikini underneath her robes when she accidentally left them behind. Hestia, chuckling, banished the robes to Hannah where she was standing next to Tonks but her aim and control were slightly out and Tonks, nearly doubled over in laughter, found herself knocked over by them as they slammed into her.

Hannah pulled the robes free of the Auror and pulled them back on. "If you're done laughing at me, could you check that I didn't leave anything else behind." She growled.

"Sure." Tonks didn't bother getting up. She got some semblance of control back and scanned the Hufflepuff from her prone position and nodded. "You're fine. Apparate back, and try not to leave the rest of your clothes behind." Tonks started laughing again.

Hannah resisted the urge to kick or hex the laughing Auror and focused on Apparating back properly. She managed it and Hestia nodded her approval before sending her back.

Once the group had completed the short range Appartion practice they worked on longer distances, working across the World Room until they reached the far edge and Apparating back to the entrance.

"Good work." Hestia complemented everyone. "That's enough for today. I would prefer you not to practice without supervision in case you make a mistake. We can practice more next time we are here and we may work outside for longer distances. Now, the Disillusionment charm."

After the Disillusionment charm they worked on Port-keys and made good progress, though they would need a couple more sessions to get them right. Hestia knew she was stepping into a potential minefield with the next question.

"How many of you, apart from Harry, know the Patronus Charm?" She asked.

The girls, except the Slytherins, grinned at each other and simultaneously cast the spell. Hermione's otter made an appearance and the others had very strong mist that was bordering of their corporeal form.

"Right." Hestia trailed off. "Umm. I guess Harry has been teaching you."

"Yup." Ginny chirped.

"Well, I'll show you how to use them to send messages and leave the rest of it in Harry's hands."

"Yes." Daphne gave Harry a firm look. "He will most definitely be teaching us this spell."

Harry pretended to recoil from her before grinning. "Not a problem."

"That makes my job easier. The only real difference is the intent used to create it. You need to focus on the message and the person you want to send it to." Hestia demonstrated quickly and motioned for them to try.

It took them a few attempts but the DA training paid off and they quickly got up to speed with the variant to the spell.

"Now we work on wards. Not proper wards, just some quick ones you can use in combat to block Apparation and Port-keys." Hestia moved on.

Harry grinned. He pulled his wand and weaved a single ward to block both in seconds. "How's that?"

Hestia glared at him and cast a few spells to check the wards he had raised, then a few more to try and break it. She frowned and cast a more spells.

"Dammit Harry." Hestia growled. "When did you learn that?"

"Yesterday, why?"

"That was better than I can do and nearly as fast." Hestia was almost complaining. "I trust you can impart this knowledge to the others then?"

"Probably. Bill Weasley will help too, when he has time." Harry replied.

"I'll leave the warding to him then." Hestia grumped. "I'm calling it a day. I'm sure Harry can take over and work you all through his other areas of expertise."

"Sorry." Harry ducked his head.

"Don't be." Hestia sighed. "It's just a little frustrating to be out performed by a bunch of kids. Still, you are the 'boy-who-lived'. As much as you may hate it there are some expectations and you seem to have little trouble beating them."

Harry opened his mouth to reply and stopped; he really had no idea what to say.

"Don't worry about it." Tonks clapped him on the shoulder cheerfully. "Our ego's are just taking a beating. I'm thinking of coming here for my routine training and working with you guys. If we can progress at the same rate as you then we may be able to catch up to Shack and Moody pretty quick."

"Not a bad idea." Hestia grinned.

"Why do I get the feeling that our training just got more painful." Harry groaned, speaking all the student's thoughts aloud.

The two Aurors laughed evilly at the worried kids.

!HPEaSE!

Tonks and Hestia didn't have time to stay for lunch and left soon after they finished terrorising the kids.

The girls dragged Harry out to do some swimming before lunch while the two elves prepared the meal. Being outside meant sunscreen, of course, and Daphne happily received the first of her backrubs. After a picnic lunch on the lawn next to the pool the group relocated to the private courtyard where Daphne moved her deck chair next to Harry and Hermione.

"My Father want to you get up to speed with Enchantment rune sequences. We were thinking that if you were good enough at them you could apply enchantments directly to the basilisk hide when we turn it into armour." She explained.

"That sounds interesting." Hermione commented thoughtfully. "It's supposed to be impossible but if anyone could, it would be Harry."

"The extra protection he could give them would help us immensely too." Susan added.

"The extra protection is only a part of why we are hoping he can." Daphne said. "If he can then we can put other enchantments like size adjustment charms. The armour would be able to adjust to fit our bodies developing as we age, pregnancies and hopefully our animagus forms, though I didn't mention that one to Father."

The others stared at her as the implications sank in.

"That would be brilliant." Ginny said in an awed tone.

"That's what I thought." Daphne grinned. "So, shall we begin?"

"Yes." Hermione answered for Harry.

He grinned at his friend's enthusiasm. "Yes, you can start at tell me why Enchantment rune sequences are different to Warding rune sequences. I really can't see much difference myself."

Ginny moved her own deck chair over next to Hermione so she could listen in. As a Runes student herself, this would be valuable knowledge. She had picked up a lot about warding from her eldest brother but enchantments were an area she was weak in.

Daphne knew her stuff and she could teach it as well. The three Gryffindors were learning a lot from their Slytherin friend. Harry still couldn't tell if there was much difference between Enchantment and Warding in the rune sequences merely the resulting effects. Wards were used for wide area effects while enchantments were for items that were self-contained or only affected their user. Wards were also designed to be especially durable and long lasting.

Harry was finding this study environment more enjoyable than any he had had at Hogwarts. He wasn't including his time prior to Hogwarts as he either hadn't had a study environment or had one where he was discouraged from studying.

Ever since Malfoy and Voldemort's attack which resulted in his change to fairer sex he found his mind much freer. He was able to think quicker and clearer. He was grasping concepts quicker and was beginning to challenge Hermione in magical theory. She was still better but Harry was now developing his theoretical skills to rival his practical skills. Something Hermione was very pleased about.

Still. As much as Harry was enjoying studying even Hermione would have agreed that the real high point of their time together as a group occurred later on in the afternoon. It started with the mad dash across the lawn and the group jump into the pool. Harry was finally learning to relax amongst his friends. Normally he only found this level of fun and excitement on his broom, soaring through the sky. Despite the lack of solitude, something us used to prize, he was truly learning to be happy and let go.

The exuberance the girls brought out of him was something he had never experienced before and had taken a while to get used to. Now the feelings were not so new and he was able to relax and enjoy them properly as he began splashing the laughing girls back. Hermione had managed to magic up a ball that they passing around in an impromptu game. Harry's swimming had improved enough from him to feel confident enough to move towards the deeper end of the pool.

This, of course, created problems of its own. Harry's breasts, while large weights bouncing around on his chest on land, they took a life of their own as the water gave them buoyancy. They did help Harry float but he found himself need to borrow Hermione's trick of sticking the bikini top down and tightening the strings to maintain some control. As problems went, Harry found this to be minor and easily ignored in all the fun he was enjoying.

After they had enough swimming they returned to their studies to work in their Animagus training. They were all making good progress. Tracy was still having the most problems due to the nature of her form and was trying a slightly different approach by working of shifting her skin first. Harry was leaving them all behind and was looking at possibly completing his first transformation by the end of next week, if not sooner. Harry was happy about this given the number of forms he had to learn. His plan was to start on his male form next. He was getting used to his female body but being able to spend even a little time as a man would go a long way to making himself feel better.

The afternoon was rounded out by some Occlumency practice before they returned to the pool for more fun and games. For Harry, this second time in the pool ended sooner than expected. He had needed to visit the bathroom and had been intercepted by Daphne on his way back.

"Can you come with me? Please." Daphne looked more unsure than Harry had ever seen her.

"Sure. Where are we going?" Harry queried gently, feeling slightly worried.

"The World Room. I just want a little time alone with you." Daphne looked a little embarrassed as she turned to lead the way.

When they reached the room she called for Winky and asked the elf to retrieve their brooms and led Harry into the room. On the open roof of the entrance building she took a deep breath and took to the sky. Harry followed, curious, as she led him through an increasing complex aerial acrobatic patterns.

After a while she had enough and paused in mid air to look at him. Flushed cheeks and heavy panting indicated how much she had worked during her flight. Harry was breathing a little heavier than normal himself. She was very good in the air and Harry had found himself enjoying the challenge.

"You're really good. You have a real shot at the Quidditch team if you want it." He complemented her.

"Thanks. With Malfoy no longer able to bribe everyone, I may have a real chance." Daphne smiled in response.

"Are you feeling better? You seemed a bit nervous before."

"Yeah, I was." Daphne sighed. "I just wanted some time alone with you, to get to know you better."

"I was thinking about something like this." Harry nodded. "Getting to know each of you individually. Hermione's parents suggested 'dating'."

Daphne laughed. "A simple but effected idea. Is this going to be our first date then?"

"I don't know. I have the feeling that dates should be different and I need to ask you but I really don't know much." Harry was a little embarrassed at his admission of his social deficiencies.

"I know." Daphne graced him with a soft smile. "We both have much to learn about each other. I was hoping to learn more about you today."

"I'd like to learn more about you too." Harry assured her. "How about we fly slower and talk."

"I'd like that." Daphne blushed slightly but still smiled. "It would be nice to have a better look around as well. The tour was a little quick and we haven't had the chance since."

They rose a little higher into the air and floated slowly along the coast line, talking.

Daphne was an interesting person. Her parents were quite formal, even with her but never criticised her for your youthful exuberances. They had begun her Runes study early in preparation of her future in the family business. She had met Tracy during a more social business meeting where families were invited and had become fast friends and gotten up to lots of fun together.

Harry laughed a lot at her childhood antics, avoiding the wistful desires to have had a similar childhood himself.

He only shared a bare outline of his childhood but it was enough for Daphne to understand what it was like and how unhappy it was. Harry quickly moved onto happier topics to brighten the now distraught girl's face. She started laughing at the Weasley twin's antics and some of the things Harry had gotten up to. She stopped him from tell her of his more prominent adventures. She told him he should wait and tell them all at once. Harry agreed and was grateful as she artfully changed the topic.

They ended their aerial tour over the mountain range, hovering over the snowy ground.

"I love the mountains and the snow." Daphne gushed. "Being about to look out over such a wide view. The crispness of the air."

"I might agree with you if I was more appropriately dressed." Harry hugged his arms around his scantily clad body.

"Honestly. Warming charms Harry." Daphne scolded him lightly.

"Woops." Harry focused and attempted to cast the spell wandlessly.

He knew he managed it as the chill of the air was replaced by the flood of warmth spreading through his body. "Much better."

"Wandless?" Daphne looked impressed. "You've been doing some special training of your own."

"Yeah. I figured that it could be useful."

"How good are you?"

"Still learning. I'm surprised I managed to pull that off."

"Could you teach me?"

"I really don't know. I suppose I could try but I'm not sure if I could explain how." Harry looked down a little.

Daphne reached over and gently lifted his chin. "It's okay. If I can do it great, if I can't, I can't. I'll be disappointed but there's no need for you to be upset. You have a heavy burden. Don't be sorry for having the tools you need to handle it."

Harry nodded and shook himself to break out of his darkening mood.

Daphne looked around the small area, nestled in between the rocky outcroppings at the edge of the cliff-side. "You know what this place needs to make it better."

Harry looked at her in surprise and gestured for her to continue.

"A hot pool." Daphne smiled broadly and drew her wand.

She set to work, moving the snow aside and transfiguring the rock to create a deep hollow and lining it with smooth tiling and a ring platform, to sit on she said. The hollow was smallish but looked big enough for all of them to fit in, if they didn't mind getting cosy with each other. This was followed by a series of simple runes that Harry studied to understand them.

"Cleaning, temperature control. That last one will maintain a certain liquid level right?"

"Very good." Daphne smiled at him. "Most people think it's just a warming rune."

"It is. Sort of." Harry pondered. "It also has elements of the cooling rune and some control rune elements."

"Correct." Daphne nodded. "You really are good at runes. It took me much longer to recognise those subtleties."

"Thanks." Harry flushed a little in embarrassment.

"Honestly Harry. You are going to have to learn to accept complements." Daphne commented in a slightly exasperated tone, then she smiled. "Though it's nice that it doesn't go to your head."

Harry wasn't sure how to respond to that but didn't get the chance as Daphne put the finishing touches on her work.

"Right, give me a hand filling this please." She requested.

"Umm. How?"

"Don't you know the Aguamenti charm?"

"No. Should I?"

"Well, admittedly it is a sixth year charm but I would have though the Hermione would have shown you."

"No, sorry. Until recently I wasn't that interested in working ahead like her."

Daphne nodded and demonstrated it to him. After a couple of false starts Harry managed to produce a respectable stream of water and the two soon had the small pool filled. It only took a few more minutes for the pool to reach its intended temperature and Daphne happily sank into the lightly steaming water.

"Ooh. That feels nice." Daphne nearly moaned in please as the warmth of the water sank in.

Harry hesitantly joined her. He was nervous at the situation they were in but she easily dispelled that by hauling him across the pool so he was kneeling next to her looking out from the pool over the wide expanse of the World Room.

"Now, does anything really beat this?" Daphne nudged him.

"This is really nice." Harry began to relax.

Daphne took one last look across the landscape then turned round to sit properly and leaned back against the side of the pool.

Harry turned as well and sat a short distance away. A distance she closed so that their shoulders were touching.

He noticed that she kept glancing at him as they sat together in silence.

"Umm, are you okay?" He asked her.

She blushed but nodded. "Yeah, just, I dunno."

Harry watched her wrestle with some thoughts before she answered.

"I wanted us to get closer and it's working but... I just can't see past you as a girl yet. It's annoying because I can sort of feel my attraction to you." She finally told him.

"What were you expecting? We've only known each other for a couple of weeks. If you were expecting a first kiss then I haven't kissed Hermione or Ginny yet and they've only kissed me on the cheek. We barely know each other."

Daphne smiled at him and lent over to kiss his cheek. "There, I've kissed your cheek too. You're right. I was trying to push things a little, though I think we know each other better now."

"Yeah, we do." Harry sighed. "Perhaps it's time for you and the others to see my memories of a few things."

"We need to. There are too many things we don't understand. Don't force it though."

"Thanks but I really don't think I will be more ready than I am now." Harry made to stand.

Daphne caught his arm and pulled him back down and held on. "Not just yet. Let's just sit and relax for a little while. She moved closer and leant her head on his shoulder.

"Okay. This is nice."

"Yes. It is." Daphne sighed. "Could you promise me something?"

"Probably."

"Don't bring anyone else here, please."

"Okay, why?" Harry was a little confused.

"I want this to be our place. Just for the two of us. We can bring the others here from time to time but I want this to be our special place. At least until we see if we can build a place in each other's hearts."

"That sounds nice." Harry agreed.

"Thanks." Daphne hugged his arm a little firmer and fell silent.

They remained that way for a while before Daphne pulled back and smiled at him.

"We should go." She said and stood.

Harry opened his mouth to reply but stopped at he found himself with a very up close view of Daphne's very sexy bottom and forgot what he was going to say.

Daphne looked back we she noticed his lack of movement and saw him staring at her posterior. Repressing a giggle, she gave a wiggle before reaching for her wand and summoning their brooms.

"I'm glad you like the view." She told him as she handed her his broom.

Harry blushed but responded. "I like this view too."

"Thanks. Now let's go." Daphne tinted a little.

They soared out from the mountain ledge and headed back to the extension.

They paused in the hallway.

"Are you sure you're ready to show your memories now?" Daphne asked.

"I need to. I think it will help me move forward." Harry replied.

"Where do you want to do it? Out in the courtyard or upstairs somewhere."

"Outside, I suppose. I can relax in the sun while you all browse my mistakes."

"You're not going to watch with us?"

"No. I lived it; I don't think I'm ready to relive it all just yet."

"Okay. Want me to tell the others?"

"Please. I'll be there soon."

"Take your time. I know this isn't easy for you." Daphne hugged him firmly.

Harry turned bright red.

"What is it?" Daphne asked, intrigued.

"Umm. Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Now you've really got me curious. Tell me."

"Uh. Lots of skin contact, and you have big breasts." Harry ducked his head in embarrassment.

Daphne flushed "Well, I did ask." She pulled him into another hug. "Doesn't mean I'm going to stop. I like hugging you too, just for different reasons. You feel safe."

"You feel warm and soft." Harry gingerly put his own arms around her and gently began hugging her back.

"Thanks. Expect more hugs, from all of us. It's nice having you hug back too." Daphne rested her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you." Harry pulled back and Daphne released him. "I'll go get Pensive."

Daphne watched the Gryffindor run off. He made a cute girl and was unsure and more than a little awkward but there was something. Something that made five kids follow him into a potentially fatal situation. Something that helped them all survive.

She headed outside to join the others in a slight daze.

"You okay?" Tracy asked as she watched her friend sit down.

"Yeah." Daphne replied distractedly.

"What is it?" Tracy sat up looking concerned.

"Harry really is something else isn't he."

"I see you've fallen under that Harry Potter charm." Hermione grinned.

"Huh?" Tracy looked round.

"Harry is something else. He's someone that will jump on a troll to save someone he barely knows or faces a Basilisk or Dementors." Hermione explained. "He's... I'm not sure how to describe him."

"I know, but I know why you went to the Ministry with him that night, and how you all survived. Does he even know how special he is?"

"No, it's a part of his charm." Ginny answered.

"What made you realise it?" Hermione asked.

"He's going to bring the pensive down and show us his memories and there was no bragging at all. And his hug, wow. It feels so... safe." Daphne gushed.

"He hugged you. That's great." Hermione smiled. "He does make you feel everything will be alright doesn't he?"

"Yeah. He liked hugging me too. Something about my breasts and the skin contact." Daphne blushed a little.

Hermione looked the busty Slytherin over. "I can imagine any guy would like hugging you at the moment."

Daphne pulled a face at her.

"So, we get to see his memories?" Padma changed the subject. "That's going to be interesting."

Ginny shuddered. "I'm not sure I can watch Harry fight the Basilisk knowing he was there to save me."

"In some ways I think you owe it to him to watch." Tracy commented. "To understand what he went through for you."

Ginny nodded. "Maybe, it's not easy though."

"I would be surprised if you thought otherwise." Tracy moved to sit next to the younger red-head. "You're not alone though, okay."

"Thanks."

Conversation stopped as they heard scrunching from the gravel path. Harry appeared in the entrance carrying the large Pensive. He was sweating and struggling with the weight as he set in down in the centre of the group of girls.

"You could have used a spell to help you." Hermione commented.

"I know. Didn't feel right though."

Hermione and Ginny stood and hugged the young wizard from either side and sat on the deck chair Daphne moved next to the Pensive for them. She joined them to hug Harry from behind. Harry wrapped his arms around himself to trap their arms against his body.

"Do you know what memories you are going to show us?" Hermione asked after a minute.

"Not really. I should probably show them everything though." Harry managed to shrug slightly, even with Daphne's arms on his shoulders. "I figured you would know which ones I should give."

"I can make suggestions but these are your personal memories, don't give any don't want to okay?" Hermione told him.

"Okay." Harry nodded. "Where do I start?"

"The beginning, perhaps." Padma suggested.

"No, really." She added after the dirty looks she received at her comment. "You didn't know about magic before you got your letter so we should start there."

"She makes a point." Susan said thoughtfully. "There are things that may only make sense with the appropriate background. It's totally up to you though, Harry. We are not forcing you into anything here; if you say no then that's it."

"Thanks but you may be right. It's just some of these memories are painful."

"It's about how your aunt and uncle treated you isn't it?" Hermione asked.

Harry didn't say anything. He didn't need to. The way he shrank and clutched tighter at their arms was answer enough.

"We know it was bad Harry, we won't think less of you." Ginny assured him.

"Okay." Harry whispered.

"As much detail as you're comfortable with." Hermione gave him one last squeeze before releasing him.

Harry nodded and pulled his wand. With a deep breath he began transferring the silver threads of his memories into the large basin. The girls were shocked at the number of memories he transferred. After half an hour he sat back and nodded to the others, giving them silent approval for them to proceed.

The girls looked at each other and encircled the Pensive and looked at Harry.

"Go on. I'm going to talk a walk."

"Okay. Stay safe." Hermione smiled at him. "Okay everyone, on three. One, two..."

"Three." The group said in unison and reached into the bowl, vanishing within.

Harry watched for a minute then left to walk around the property.

He shifted to training after a while to take his mind of things.

!HPEaSE!

"Where is everyone?" Emily and Daniel had come home from work.

"Looking at my memories." Harry paused in his training.

He was currently alternating between his practising his martial arts and sword training in the backyard on the grassed area between the pool and the hedges that marked the boundary of their private courtyard.

"Oh." Emily looked at him, concerned. "Are you okay?"

"I suppose." Harry sighed. "I suppose you'll want to see them as well?"

Emily blushed. "I can't hide my curiosity but not without your permission."

"It's okay. You might as well see what you're getting into." Harry shrugged and hefted his training blade. "You'll have to wait until the others finish though."

"Later then?"

"I don't know how long they will be, there's a lot to go through." Harry return to his training.

"Looks like takeaways tonight." Daniel grinned. "We haven't done that in a while."

"No we haven't. We can order pizza; we'll wait till the girls get out and find out what flavours they want." Emily smiled back. "We'll leave you to your training Harry. Don't overdo it."

"Okay." Harry grunted as he swung the heavy practice sword.

Emily and Daniel headed to their bedroom to change and to inform the elves of their dinner plans.

"Are you sure tonight is the right time to give him the birds and bees talk?" Daniel asked. "He looked a little out of it."

"I know. We'll see how he is later. We had better keep an eye on him though, and how the girls greet him afterwards." Emily replied. "I may not have a choice."

"We'll watch him."

"It wouldn't have anything to do with Harry being a buxom young woman in a bikini at the moment." Emily glared at her husband. "Harry is a man and our daughters husband at the moment so that's your son-in-law your perving at."

"Yeah, I know. I get just how wrong it is." Daniel shook his head. "This magic thing gets to me sometimes."

"You're not the only one." Emily sighed. "Come on, let's go sit outside. You just face to other way."

"Yes dear." Daniel ducked the swat she threw at him.

They got drinks for everyone and took them outside and sat near the pool where they could see everything and were reading through some medical journals when the girls finally made their appearance from the courtyard.

Emily dropped her journal at the sight of their tear-streaked faces. "Oh god! What has Harry been through?"

Hermione was the first to reach Harry and buried him in a hug that knocked him over.

"Harry, you should never have had to go through so much." She mumbled into his hair.

She sat up and released him only to have Susan pull him to his feet so she could take her place. Susan was followed by Daphne, then Luna, Hannah, Tracy and Padma all hugged him firmly, all whispering support in his ear.

Harry looked around for the missing red-head and saw a crying Ginny approach him slowly.

"I don't know what to say." She whispered. "You went through so much. You went through so much for me. How can I ever thank you, how can I ever repay you?"

"That's not why I did it." Harry replied quietly.

Ginny slowly embraced him and rested her head against Harry's neck and chest. "I knew you nearly died saving me but to see it." Ginny broke off with a sod. "To see just how close it was."

Ginny burst into tears again and her knees buckled, pulling Harry down with her. Harry managed to hold her but couldn't prevent them from ending up on their knees. He held her as sobs shock her small body. Hermione, Luna and Daphne all knelt and started stroking the younger girl's back and shoulders.

Ginny slowly calmed down and eventually pulled back a little to look at Harry. She briefly freed a hand to wipe her tears before returning it to holding the wizard who had claimed her heart. She surprised even herself as she leant forward to place her lips gently against his.

Harry froze in shock under the contact. Ginny pulled back and smiled at him. Suddenly she flushed and broke free of the group comforting her and vanished back into the help.

Harry watched her flee, touching his lips with his fingers.

"Wow." Harry managed after a couple of minutes. "That was... wow."

"It was kind of wow to watch." Daphne commented softly from where she knelt. "Will she be okay?"

"I think so." Hermione answered quietly. "I can imagine she found that a little embarrassing."

"I really liked that but, why do girls have to be crying when they kiss me?" Harry looked a little sad.

"It won't always be like that Harry, but I wouldn't say that to her if I was you." Hermione swatted his shoulder gently before she stood. "I'll go talk to her."

"We're having pizza tonight." Emily told her as she left. "Try to get her request if you can't get her to join us."

"Okay." Hermione waved as she entered the house.

"What's pizza?" Luna asked.

"A large flat bread type base with meat, cheese and some salads or even fruit for toppings." Emily explained. "Very tasty as you are about to find out."

"Huh?" Harry looked at her.

"You are all staying for dinner." Emily stated firmly, staring the girls down.

"Uh, yes ma'am." Daphne said hesitantly.

"Good. Here's the menu, please choose what you want." Emily was suddenly all smiles. "And Harry. Make sure Dobby and Winky choose as well."

"Yes, ma'am." Harry replied.

"She's a little scary." Tracy whispered.

"And Hermione's inherited that from her." Harry whispered back.

"Oh, crap."

Harry gave her a sympathetic glance and called for his elves to get there choice's for dinner.

!HPEaSE!

Hermione gently tapped on the bedroom door that she shared with Ginny. "Can I come in?"

"It's your room too, I can't stop you." Ginny's muffled voice came back.

Hermione entered and saw Ginny face down on her bed.

"Are you okay?"

"No. I kissed Harry on front of everyone." Ginny sat up to yell at her. "I bet they're all laughing at me about it."

"No actually." Hermione sat on her own bed. "Harry said 'wow' twice and Daphne said 'wow' once."

"They weren't laughing." Ginny calmed down and looked surprised.

"No. More shocked than anything." Hermione moved over to join Ginny. "You might want to give Harry another kiss though."

"Huh? Why?"

"He seems to be developing a complex about only being kissed by crying girls."

"Oh. He does have a point."

Hermione hugged her. "No one is going to think less of you. I was tempted to kiss him myself after what we saw but you had a much more personal stake in it."

"Thanks."

"Now, what was it like?"

"Seriously?" Ginny looked at her friend in shock.

"Yes. Spill, how soft was his lips?"

"Very, I don't know if it was because he's a girl or if they're naturally like that but they were so soft." Ginny gushed. "I just wish he'd kissed me back."

"You did sort of surprise him. Maybe next time, if you give him some warning he will reciprocate." Hermione gave her a little poke.

Ginny squirmed. "So when are you going to kiss him?"

Hermione blushed. "I... I... Oh you. When I'm ready okay. Soon though."

"Yeah I know. I didn't expect today to be my first time with him but when I saw what he went through for me, I couldn't help it."

"He really is amazing isn't he?" Hermione smiled.

"Yeah." Ginny smiled.

"Hang on." Ginny suddenly looked at Hermione. "Daphne said 'wow' too?"

"Yeah, I know." Hermione shrugged. "But it actually looked really sweet the way you were kissing him."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Your sad, sweet expression and Harry's surprise and enjoyment. He really did like that kiss."

"I'm glad." Ginny smiled.

"Come on. Mum and Dad are getting pizza for dinner and need to know what you want." Hermione stood and pulled Ginny up.

"Huh? What's pizza?"

"Honestly. You'll like it, trust me." Hermione tried to pull her friend from the room.

"Umm, do I have to?" Ginny protested.

"Yes. You have to face him sooner or later so come on and get it over with." Hermione didn't let go.

"Hermione." Ginny protested.

"Ginny." Hermione fired back.

"Alright, but if any one laughs at me I'm pushing you in the pool." Ginny threatened.

"Okay, agreed." Hermione smiled. "Now grab a warm top, it'll be getting cool soon."

"Should we grab tops for the others?"

"That's an idea, but raiding their drawers without permission?"

"True. They can ask Winky if they're staying."

"Okay. Come on." Hermione finally managed to pull Ginny from the room.

They returned outside to join the others.

"You're all still here?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"Your Mother invited us for dinner." Daphne replied warily. "Well, I say invited but it felt more like an order."

"Ah, yes. I understand." Hermione nodded.

"Have you made your choices?" Emily asked.

Hermione looked at Ginny who shrugged and said. "I trust you."

"I think Hawaiian. It's always seemed a more cheery pizza and we need that right now." Hermione decided.

"Okay. I'll go order; you girls should all go freshen up. Harry, you too." Emily headed inside.

"I should shower." Harry rose and headed off.

Daphne watched Harry leave before turning back to the girls. "Are you okay Ginny?"

"Yeah, it was just shocking."

"Good. I think we are going to have to go through his memories again."

"Why?" Tracy asked. "It was bad enough the first time."

"Yes but we saw it all emotionally. We need to watch it impassively and see the details." Daphne explained.

"She's right." Susan said. "We need to look at it like Auror's studying evidence not emotional school girls. But not tonight please. I'm going to have nightmares as it is."

"Yeah." Padma shuddered. "Ginny, please kiss Harry again when he gets back, it distracted us nicely."

Ginny flushed.

"Actually, that gives me an idea. If you stay the night we could bring out blankets into Harry's room and bunk with him for the night. We'll be in our own blankets which will prevent anything from happening and we get to bask in Harry's safe feeling." Hermione explained.

"That sounds fun." Daphne grinned. "But did I detect a shot at me there?"

"No, whatever gave you that idea?" Hermione looked innocent.

"I probably deserved it, but can I know why?"

"Suggesting we go back through Harry's memories. It may be necessary but it's not going to be pleasant."

"True, I'll take that one." Daphne relaxed. "Now hold still while I hit you with a freshening charm."

A few spells later they all looked fresh faced and Winky brought them some warm tops to wear to protect them from the cooling evening air. There was still a shadow remaining from their trip through Harry's memories.

Harry returned a few minutes later with damp hair and wearing pants and a jumper. "I feel better for that."

"Good. We are going to have to go through your memories again and look for details. We got a little too emotional last to spot many details of interest." Hermione replied.

"I can understand that. I got pretty upset just thinking about it." Harry replied as he sat.

Emily joined them carrying more drinks. "Good you're all here. Dinner will be arriving soon."

"Allow me to help you Miss's Granger's mother." Winky sprang over to take the tray to drinks to the table.

"Thanks. You can help me carry the pizza too if you want." Emily told the helpful elf.

"Of course. I's is happy to help."

The two went inside and Emily paused to ask the elf a question. "Is there a spell of potion or something to help with hangovers?"

"Yes. Winky can get you some easy."

"Two doses please, for me and Harry. We're going to need it after tonight."

"At once." Winky vanished before Emily could protest.

Winky returned a couple of minutes little later. "Drink this before you sleep and you'se will be fine when you wake."

"Thanks. Hold on to them for now, just make sure Harry and I drink them before you put us to bed. I think we may need help." Emily instructed the elf.

Winky nodded and popped off to put the two vials away.

The pizza's arrived just after Winky returned and Emily distracted the delivery boy by paying him so that Winky could take the stack of boxes into the house.

The boxes were taken out back and laid out on the table. The boxes were opened to release the trapped steam and delicious smell causing the assembled witches and wizard's mouths to water and they dove in quickly giving sounds of pleasure as they fought with the melted cheese.

There was no conversation until the pizza's were demolished and the girls cleaned themselves up with a few quick charms and lent back to relax.

Harry remembered the Pensive and rose to get it when Emily called him into the house.

"Hermione, could you take the Pensive inside please." He asked as he left.

"Sure Harry. See you later."

Emily led Harry into the study and sat him down.

"I'm not sure about the timing but you seem to be getting closer to your girls so I'm afraid I have little choice." Emily started as she dug a bottle and a couple of glasses out of a cupboard.

"What's this about?" Harry was concerned. "There's nothing wrong is there?"

"No Harry." Emily smiled at him as she set the bottle and glasses down. "There are just a few things you need to know."

"Umm, okay..."

"This is the birds and bees talk."

"Umm, I'm not entirely sure what that means but I suddenly have a feeling of dread." Harry looked apprehensive.

"I was afraid of this." Emily groaned. "Harry, this is the talk that parent give their children about their maturing bodies and about sex. About having it, about being responsible when having it and about everything it entails."

Harry turned bright red.

Emily nodded and poured a little of the amber liquid into each glass and handed one to him and sipped the other.

"Whiskey. I believe it's sort of traditional for fathers and sons to get drunk while having this talk. You get me." Emily said sitting down.

Harry sipped from his own glass and coughed at the harsh liquid going down his throat. "Wow, that almost feels like fire has gasped."

"It's nice once you get used to it." Emily smiled. "Dan and I aren't big drinkers but this is a special situation so we are going to get plastered."

Harry's eye widened.

"To start off with you need to understand the male and female bodies..." Emily began her lecture.

She talked Harry through periods, wet dreams, how bodies changed during puberty, sex, pregnancy and child birth. Harry maintained a permanent blush throughout the lecture which included professional diagrams. He was grateful for the drink, though she carefully limited his intake to ensure he would retain the information.

She filled his glass for the next part and Harry began wishing he could Apparate away as she began telling him how to pleasure his partner in bed. Giving him suggestions and techniques and, as the blood-alcohol levels rose, recounted some fond memories of her own experiences.

Harry had little to contribute but found himself encouraged to describe what he liked about each of the girls physically as well as emotionally. The bottle was emptied and the evening blurred as the two finally finished and Winky came to force the potion down their throats and took them to bed.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

**Chapter 18**

Harry woke with a groan. He mouth was dry and he had a bit of a headache. He also needed to visit the bathroom. He tried to roll over but found himself blocked, first on one side, then the other.

He finally managed to wriggle around so he could sit up. Looking around he saw all the girls bundled up in their own blankets all around him. Ginny was on one side of him with Daphne next to her. Luna and Hermione were bundled up on his other side. Luna was hugging Hermione, Harry noted. Hannah was on the far side of Luna and Padma was next to Daphne. Susan was lying across the bed above where his head was with Tracy behind her. Everyone looked all happy and cosy.

After emptying his bladder, he washed his hands and drank a little water from the tap sooth his mouth. He turned to return to the bedroom and spotted Hermione entering the bathroom, dressed in similar sleep-wear to him; singlet and shorts.

"Umm. Morning, Hermione." Harry said hesitantly.

"Good morning, Harry." She was smiling in a way that set Harry's nerves on edge.

"Did you sleep well?" Harry asked warily.

"Yes, very well. Yourself?"

"Okay. I have a little headache but my drink seems to be helping."

"That's good." Hermione's smile widened. "So, why did you come to bed completely drunk?"

"Umm." Harry flushed.

"Does it have something to do with this?" Hermione pulled her arms from behind her revealing a book.

Harry's froze. He recognised the book as one of the ones Emily had given him.

"Homework perhaps?" Hermione kept taunting him. "Who gave it to you?"

"Your Mum." Harry managed to whisper finally.

"Mum?" Hermione was thrown off guard.

"Yeah. She... umm... uh..." Harry faltered.

"Spit it out." Hermione demanded.

"She gave me The Talk last night." Harry's blush managed to double.

"Oh." Hermione kept smiling. "How did it go?"

"I got it from both angles. Please don't make me go into more detail?" Harry begged.

"Okay, I'm not that mean. How are you doing?"

"I feel awkward just looking at you."

Hermione laughed. "I was the same way when I met you again after Mum gave it to me."

"When was that?"

"Not telling." Hermione was grinning now. "So, why all the alcohol? You were unconscious when Winky brought you in, though the books provided us with some entertainment."

"Oh no." Harry groaned.

"I figured you got The Talk last night. One of the books was the same as one I got. The others were interesting though, especially this one." Hermione waved the one she was holding.

"How would you feel if my mother talked to you about how to pleasure me?"

"Oh, she didn't?' Hermione blushed. "She actually went into that detail?"

"Why do you think we got so plastered? She needed it as much as I did."

"That explains why she gave you the Karma Sutra." Hermione looked back at the book in her hands.

"How did that go down with the others?" Harry asked.

"They were actually disturbed by this book, until Padma set them straight."

"Padma?" Harry was shocked.

"Yeah, Padma of all people. I thought she was much shyer than that but, then again, isn't Karma Sutra from India or one of the neighbouring countries?"

"You're asking me?" Harry looked surprised. "You really think I would know?"

"Yeah, okay. Sorry." Hermione grinned a little. "Still, it was an interesting read. It goes into a lot of detail about how to ensure each other's comfort and pleasure. It might be nice to try a few of them, when we're ready."

Harry's fading blush came back full force.

Hermione's grin widened into a smile and she walked forward. "Sorry, but I thought I should tell you."

She kissed his cheek as she passed. "I care for you deeply, Harry. Seeing what you've been through just shows me how special you really are. I will be at your side, always. Now let me use the toilet, we'll talk afterwards."

"Okay, I'll see you in the living room." Harry left to give her privacy.

He had poured a drink for them both when she caught up to him.

"Thanks." She took a sip. "How are you? You looked a little unsettled yesterday."

"Just remembering everything as I pulled the memories out." Harry studied his partially drunk glass.

"I know you told me a lot about what happened but seeing it is a totally different thing." Hermione reached over and gripped his arm as she spoke to him intently. "You did really well. I don't think you could have done anything better."

"Really?" Harry looked at her hopefully.

"Really. And you did it alone. I think you forget just how much you did by yourself."

"I had help." Harry protested.

"You faced Quirrell alone in your first year. You killed a blinded basilisk in your second year, you were alone in the graveyard after the Third Task and you just faced Voldemort alone until Professor Dumbledore came. Please don't put yourself down so much. I've said it before, you are a great wizard Harry."

"Thanks Hermione." Harry smiled.

"Morning." Susan yawned as she walked in followed by Daphne rubbing her head.

Susan was also in a singlet and shorts but Daphne was wearing a nice silky nighty.

"Nice, Daphne." Hermione complemented her sleep wear.

"Thanks. I figured that Harry has all the same bits at the moment and with this oath we're likely to end up with him so he's going to see everything anyway at some point so, why not just be myself. Besides, it covers more than my swimsuit."

"I think Harry likes it." Susan drew attention to the staring wizard.

"Thanks Harry." Daphne hugged him and went for her own drink.

"Could you get me one please?" Susan asked.

"Not after you smacked me on the head getting up. I was enjoying my dream thank you very much."

"Sorry. I'll just get my own and sit over here." A very contrite Susan sat on the far side of the table from the Slytherin girl.

"Did you all sleep well?" Harry asked.

The girls all nodded.

"Umm, not to ruin the mood but did you find anything last night?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Not as much as you." Daphne teased him, trying to keep the mood light but failing.

"We were too broken up by what you had been through to really see anything." Susan started tearing.

"We'll need to go through your memories again; it may take most of the day to study them properly." Daphne added, sounding depressed.

"Okay. Hermione's parents wanted to see them too; they may have a useful perspective." Harry said.

"That's not a bad idea. Would you be okay if Tonks joined us?" Hermione asked.

"If you think it's useful. I'll send her an owl." Harry was cut off by Hedwig floating through the open door.

"Hello Hedwig, looking forward to making a delivery?" Harry greeted his owl.

Hedwig hooted cheerfully as she landed on Harry's shoulder and rubbed against his face.

Hermione laughed at the owls antics and dashed out of the room to get paper and a pen.

Harry wrote a quick message and Hedwig happily floated out of the room, on her way to the young Auror's residence.

"Are you going to join us?" Daphne asked.

"No, sorry. I'm not ready yet." Harry looked sad.

Both Hermione and Daphne leant over to hug the upset Gryffindor.

"Don't worry about it Harry. We'll manage. You can join us when we have some things to look more closely at." Susan suggested.

"Thanks." Harry smiled at the Hufflepuff.

"This is going to take most of the day, are you going to be okay?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah. I've got plenty of training I need to do. Maybe I'll finish my first Animagus form."

"If you do, can I have a ride?"

"Huh?"

"I always wanted to ride a Unicorn. It's a childhood fantasy of mine." Hermione confessed.

"That sounds fun; can we all get a turn?" Susan asked with eyes sparkling in anticipation.

"Okay." Harry said, resigned to his fate.

"Yay!" The girls chorused and hugged him again, Susan rounding the table to join the other two witches.

"What did we miss?" Tracy asked as she, Padma and Hannah joined them.

"We get to ride Harry." Susan gushed.

"Isn't that a little quick?" Padma looked surprised.

"Not quick enough, I can't wait." Hermione replied happily.

"He only got The Talk yesterday."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Hermione was confused.

"Those books we looked at last night."

"'We' were talking about Harry's Unicorn Animagus form." Hermione corrected her primly. "Honestly Padma. Harry only just had The Talk and you think we'd be trying to get him into bed?"

"In case you had forgotten, we 'all' spent the night in his bed."

"That was more 'on' his bed." Hermione countered. "If we were all sharing the same sheets then I would say we were 'in' bed with him."

"I'm right here." Harry commented.

He was ignored.

"That is merely semantics." Padma argued.

"So you wouldn't have had any problems sharing his sheets?" Hermione fired back.

"We are his wives, in case you had forgotten. Such behaviour is permissible."

"Still, right here." Harry said, and still ignored.

"This coming from the person who is the shyest of all of us." Hermione commented.

"Just because I am not comfortable baring myself as much as you does not make me a prude." Padma replied. "I didn't comment on your bikini. I..."

"Ah, sorry Hermione's turn." Susan cut her off. "Go on Hermione."

"Huh?" Hermione turned to Susan.

"I'm arbitrating. Your turn, or are you passing this round?" Susan grinned.

Hermione shook her head and turned back to Padma. "I wasn't commenting on your dress sense, rather your entire demeanour. I'm also not the one who jumped right to sex. Do..."

"Sorry. It's Padma's turn. One comment only please." Susan interrupted.

"She just had two." Padma complained.

"And you had two before. Speak of forfeit this round." Susan stated.

Padma nodded. "It was a little difficult not to considering last night's discussions and Susan's statement."

"That was a statement that was easily misinterpreted." Hermione glared at Susan.

"Sorry but given our conversation what did I say wrong and how could I have expected this outcome. And how did I get dragged into this argument?"

"Sorry. One statement only, but since the other two had both had two then I'll let it pass this time." Daphne poked the Hufflepuff in the ribs causing her to squeak.

"Could this get any crazier?" Harry slumped back against the table.

"To answer your implied question, Hermione, in my culture I would be expected to join my husband in his bed at his 'pleasure' whenever he requested, regardless of my personal wishes or desires." Padma held up a hand to stop the protests. "I know that Harry will never do that and I appreciate it more than I can say it. I grew up knowing what would be 'expected' of me by my husband.

"My high level of modesty and shy demeanour is expected behaviour for an Indian woman in the Magical World. As much as I am impressed by your confidence in yourself to be able to dress the way you do, I am fighting my upbringing, much like Harry has to fight his."

"Sorry." Hermione backed down. "I didn't realise."

"I never expected you to." Padma smiled. "Multiple wives isn't uncommon in Magical India either so, given how special Harry is, I will remain with him and whoever else stays with him."

Hermione looked Padma in the eye for a long minute before stepping forward and hugging the Ravenclaw. "Since I can't see myself with anyone else either; welcome to the family." She whispered in the girl's ear.

Padma felt her eyes tear and hugged her back. "Thanks, Hermione. I mean that."

"That was an unexpected end." Tracy commented. "Who won?"

Hermione and Padma stepped back from each other and grinned.

"I think it was a mutual concession." Hermione replied. "Nice debate though."

"Yeah. Maybe again sometime; just not on such a personal topic." Padma smiled.

"Agreed."

"Umm." Padma leant forward to whisper in Hermione's ear. "If you can come up with any ideas to help me be more comfortable being dressed more revealingly around here, please let me know."

"I'll think on it." Hermione assured her.

"Well that was a bit of fun for the morning." Hannah smiled as she gave Harry a hug and sat at the table. "What's next?"

"We go through Harry's memories again." Daphne's reply turned the mood sombre. "We need to study them properly."

"That's going to take all day." Hannah slumped. "A long depressing day."

"Yeah." Susan agreed. "But it has to be done."

"I know." Hannah sighed. "Doesn't make it fun. You joining us Harry?"

"No." Harry shook his head. "Later, once you have something but not yet. I'll do some training, like work on my Animagus form."

"Which is what we walked in on." Tracy guessed.

"Yes. Hermione's always wanted to ride a Unicorn and asked Harry." Daphne said. "Things sort of went from there."

"Downhill it seems." Padma commented.

"You didn't help with that." Hermione grinned at her.

"True." Padma seemed un-phased. "So, Harry, have you read those books yet?"

"Padma." Harry protested. "Hermione's already done this."

"You didn't wait for us?" Padma complained to the Gryffindor witch.

"I teased him about being drunk and the book." Hermione said. "I didn't start in on the sexual positions."

"That's okay then." Padma relaxed.

Harry grinned to himself. He knew how to end this and prank them all; he would have to make a run for it though.

He drained his drink and stood, stretching. "I haven't read them yet but I have a rough idea of what's in them. I will need to work on the practical portion before I can form any real opinion for discussion though."

Harry quickly made his exit and sprinted down the hallway to his bedroom, using the girls shock to make his getaway. Entering his bedroom he nearly slammed the door and his wand leapt into his hand as ran for the bathroom. He fired a locking charm at the door to buy him some time.

"Uh, wassup?" Ginny roused, waking Luna who had moved to cuddle her after the others left.

"Nothing, just getting myself in trouble as usual." Harry replied as he crossed the room. "You'll need to use your own bathroom though."

He entered his bathroom and locked the door behind him. He started laughing and stripped to have a shower.

He found himself much more aware of his own body after the discussion last night. As he entered the shower, closed the screen and turned the water on, he was conscious of how the water began cascading across his skin. Even more conscious than he had been when he first changed.

Emily had discussed many embarrassing things and self-gratification was one of them. He could understand it to a point and had noticed the guy's in his dorm did that, as secretly as possible. It wasn't until the last year that he had felt any desire to experiment himself. Emily had been surprised at his late development and questioned a few details of his upbringing. That answered the question for her easily. The lack of food stunted his development causing him to bloom later than normal.

Harry was reassured by that. Now he had a new problem. He had begun to feel the same urges again but felt totally uncomfortable satisfying them in his new body. Emily had reassured him on that. It was his own body and while some initial awkwardness was to be expected, he shouldn't let it hold him back.

Emily had also explained the potential of the situation. If he paid attention to his body, he could learn how to pleasure his wives from personal experience. A topic that was brought to his attention this morning by both Hermione and Padma.

He knew Emily was right, but it didn't make the situation any easier to cope with.

His musing was cut short as the screen was hauled open revealing a group of irate girls.

"Do you mind!" Harry growled cutting them off. "I'm showering here. Would you want me to barge in on your showers?"

There was a long pause as the girls digested that statement.

Harry got tired of waiting and, with a crackle of energy, a formed a gust of wind that slammed into the girls and sent them flying into the massive tub. Harry saw them disappear under the water as he slammed the screen closed.

They girls dragged their sopping wet selves out of the tub and Ginny and Luna, who had followed them, looked them over.

"Did you just barge in on Harry's shower?" Ginny asked.

"Uh, yeah." Hannah said as she pushed her long damp hair out of her face. "He dumped us all into the tub for it."

"And good on him too." Ginny started getting angry. "How angry would you be if Harry barged in on one of your showers? That was a horrible invasion of his privacy."

"You're right." Hermione sighed. "We owe him a huge apology."

"Yeah." Tracy agreed. "Still, I'm a little jealous of his body. He makes a beautiful woman."

"You can continue this discussion somewhere else." Ginny told them. "Out! Now! All of you!"

Ginny chased the other girls out and paused in the doorway as she closed the door. "Enjoy what's left of your shower Harry." She called.

"Thanks." Harry called back.

Ginny closed the door and chased the sopping wet girls out of Harry's bedroom.

Harry leant back against the shower wall. So much for a relaxing shower. He reached for the body wash and began soaping his body. His awareness of it was still heightened after his discussion with Emily last night but the interruption destroyed any mood that might have existed. Still, he was tempted to press just a little firmer as his hands washed the smooth skin between his legs.

Emily had had a lot to say about his situation. Harry had been prompted to reveal a number of intimate details about himself. Alcohol had been liberally used to loosen his tongue. Emily's theory was that the change had disrupted his body on several levels. She believed that his temporary loss of desires was a part of his body's adaptation to its changes.

She had warned him that he may begin to experience Period's in the future, with the associated mood swings, after his hormones had adjusted and started kicking in. Harry was hoping that his Occlumency would help offset some of those issues.

Emily just wished him luck.

Harry rinsed himself off and started in on his hair. The length had proved difficult to wash when it had first been lengthened but he had learnt to manage it. It had proved odd though. The vigorous movements needed to wash his hair caused his breasts to bounce. He had gotten used to it now but had been one of a number of embarrassing things he encountered while bathing. The Talk had reawaken his awareness of it again.

Now clean Harry wrapped his towel around himself and peeked out into the bedroom. Finding it empty he breathed a sigh of relief and went to get dressed. With the others spending most of the day in the Pensive he didn't think that they would be swimming until later so he pulled on a plain set of lingerie and a light shirt and shorts. Next, breakfast he decided and left the room.

Hermione called out to him as he passed. He stopped and froze, she was only in lingerie. A pretty white, lacy set that stood out against her tanned skin.

"Umm, Hermione?" Harry blushed and turned around.

"Oh, stop it Harry. This covers more than my bikini. I wanted to apologise for my actions earlier. However much you teased us with your comment before; there was no excuse for us, for me, to violate your privacy like that. I'm really sorry."

"It's okay." Harry replied. "It's not like you haven't seen me before, thanks to my inability to put on my own bikini."

"Yeah, but still, it doesn't excuse my actions. The situations were completely different." Hermione protested. "If you did that to me I would probably do worse than throw you in the tub."

"True. I'll try not to." Harry grinned.

Hermione laughed. "At least not until I'm comfortable being nude around you."

Harry blushed. "I suppose I deserve that for my comment earlier."

"Yes." Hermione gave him a mock glare. "Still, you would have enjoyed the view of us getting out of the bath. Half a dozen dripping wet witches in skimpy clothing. Daphne's nighty turned practically transparent."

Harry turned really red at that thought.

"I thought you might like to know that." Hermione teased him.

"Get dressed." Harry mock growled. "I'll see you for breakfast."

Hermione ducked back into her bedroom to pull on the dress lying on her bed. "Ready, let's go. I'm hungry."

Harry chuckled as Hermione caught his arm and dragged him along the corridor to the living area.

The other girls trickled in and joined them to eat. They all offered sincere apologies to Harry while Ginny glared at them all for their invasion of Harry's privacy. Luna was upset at them as well, the sight of the normally eccentric girl glaring was probably the most off-putting thing of all.

The breakfast meal dragged on. Everyone seemed reluctant to finish knowing the task that was to come. Tonks walked in giving them a grateful reprieve.

"'Wotcher. How is everyone?" Tonks bounced in.

"Dreading the morning." Ginny growled back.

"Huh? What's happening? Is this why you wanted to see me Harry?"

"Yeah." Harry replied. "I've put some memories in a Pensive for them to go through and see if they can spot anything.. odd, out of place, whatever... They went through them last night but..."

"We found them too disturbing to work on. We're going to try again today, and aren't looking forward to it." Hermione cut in.

"So you want an Auror's eye view?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "Can you help?"

"Sure, I've just got a meeting with Remus soon. He asked me to meet him this morning to talk about you." Tonks paused as a thought came to her. "Want to come? You could sneak along and see what you think ."

"You won't mind?"

"Nah." Tonks waved his concern away. "I trust you won't intrude on anything private."

"So, there are some private things between you two." Ginny grinned at the older Auror.

"Not as private as I would like. He's a stubborn old fool sometimes." Tonks grumped a little.

"Interesting, but I really don't need to know about your love life." Harry commented dryly.

"Are you sure?" Tonks teased him. "I don't mind sharing with you. Do you want to know what he can do with his tongue when he gets going?"

"Not really." Harry looked a little sick.

"Okay." Tonks shrugged. "We should go; I don't want to keep the old wolf waiting."

"Just give me a minute." Harry ran back to his bedroom and returned with a jacket. "Okay, let's go."

"See you soon, Harry." The girls waved goodbye to him as he followed Tonks out.

One quick trip through the floo later and Harry was stumbling out into the main room of the Leaky Cauldron. His martial arts training had boosted his balance enough that he stayed on his feet, though it was a struggle.

"There he is." Tonks murmured discretely. "Grab a table nearby and listen in. I'll include you in the privacy spell."

"Thanks." Harry moved to sit at the table next to Remus' with his back to his former professor.

"Hey Remus." Tonks greeted the werewolf. "How're doing?"

"Good thanks. Yourself?" Remus stood to greet her.

"I'm good."

"And Harry?" Remus's voice held a note of worry.

"He's fine. I think he's coping, mostly."

"That's good. I've stuffed up too much in the past. How's he dealing with Sirius's death?"

"Okay, I think. As well as he can be under the circumstances." Tonks shrugged. "He's got plenty of friends to help when, if, he has a problem."

"That's good. I wish I could be one of them. I should be one of them. Harry's the only family I have left." Remus trailed off.

"He doesn't have to be." Tonks said gently. "You could have more family."

"I'm too old for you, not to mention my 'furry little problem' as James called it." Remus stated.

"So you get cranky once a month, you're not the only one. I don't care about your age either. I care about you."

"Tonks. We've talked about this."

"No. You talked, and refused to listen."

"You refused to listen as well."

"No, I listened. I just disagreed with your argument." Tonks glared at him.

"This is not the time and place." Remus growled.

"We agree for once." Tonks growled back. "Why did have to be on this?"

"Is Harry really okay?" Remus changed the subject.

"Yeah. He's doing okay; keeping busy and all that."

"Busy doing what?" Remus asked.

"Now, that would be telling." Tonks grinned.

"I should be there." Remus said sadly.

"Yes, you should." Tonks glared.

"Could you tell him that?"

"I could, but it won't be enough. He needs to know he can trust you."

"Of course he can." Remus protested.

"Can he?" Tonks challenged quietly. "Can he really trust you? Would you side with him over Dumbledore?"

"I understand." Remus sniffed and frowned. "That's tricky, but yes. Wormtail may have caused the Marauder Oath we swore as kids to be broken, but in my heart I will still honour it for the three best friends I ever had. James, Sirius, and Lily. Yes. I will side with Harry over Dumbledore."

"Why?" Tonks probed.

"Many reasons. But mostly because I think it's the right thing to do. Harry is my family. He has a huge task in front of him; I want to have his back." Remus stated firmly.

Remus sniffed again and frowned.

"What is it?" Tanks asked.

"I keep smelling something, someone. It's familiar but I can't place it."

Tonks glanced around and spotted Harry. Harry was deep in thought, pondering what he had heard.

Harry nodded to himself. He would trust Remus. He turned in his seat and found himself looking straight at Remus.

"Lily?" Remus whispered. "Is that you?"

"No, though it's nice to be compared to my mother for a change." Harry replied softly.

"Harry?" Remus asked incredulously.

"Yup." Harry grinned. "How're doing?"

Remus sprang up to pull Harry in a hug.

"I missed you too Moony, but could you let go. This is a little uncomfortable." Harry protested as he felt his breasts being crushed under the werewolf's overly enthusiastic hug.

"Sorry Harry." Remus released him. "It's good to see you. How are you doing?"

"Okay. Just taking it one day at a time." Harry replied.

"I know, Cub. I miss Padfoot too." Remus's face pulled into a sad half smile. "How about with your... uh... 'changes'?"

"I'm slowly getting used to them." Harry grimaced. "It's had its challenges though, and I'm sure there will be more to come."

"I wish I could say I understood but, not a chance." Remus's grin became more natural. "Actually, no, I never want to know what it's like."

"Arse." Harry shot back before lightening. "Do I really look like Mum?"

"Yes. The hair and eyes are the same. Your features are only a little different but they bring out your mother's side. I think they were always there, just hidden behind James'."

"Thanks." Harry got a little teary eyed. "That means a lot."

"You're welcome." Remus assured him. "Now, I'm guessing you overheard our conversation."

"Yeah." Harry nodded briefly.

"I want to help you, and I'll keep it from Albus if that's what you want."

"Thank you." Harry said gratefully.

Remus gestured for Harry to join them at their table. "Can I ask why you want to keep things away from him?"

"Because he's making mistakes. Mistakes that are costing people's lives. Crouch spent the entire year under Dumbledore's nose without being detected. He keep so much from me last year and it got Sirius killed. I'm not saying that he should tell me everything but there were so many things I needed to know, should have known. He just ordered me around with no explanations."

"Albus has many things to consider, you can't expect too much."

"I can and have too. I have a bigger part to play in the coming battle than he does, and he knows it." Harry growled. "Why do you think he wants me protected so much? Does he go through that for everyone? My friends are targets after the fiasco at the Ministry, has he done much to protect them?"

Remus looked shocked. "No."

"There's a reason."

"I'm betting." Remus looked shocked. "I'm in. I was before but now I'm more in that I thought I could be. Want a spy in the order?"

"If you don't mind." Harry was a little surprised at the offer.

"I don't. Anything else I can help with?"

Tonks looked at Harry and nodded.

"We could use your point of view for something." Harry began. "Something that requires your absolute discretion."

"You have it." Remus assured him.

"Come with us." Harry turned back to the floo.

Tonks dropped the privacy spell and pulled Remus along with her. They tumbled through the floo and landed in the Entrance Hall of the Granger home. Harry didn't bother trying to keep him balance and rolled out of the floo and returned to his feet a couple of yards away.

It was just as well as Tonks got tangled with Remus and the two crashed to the ground and ended up only inches from Harry.

"Ow!" Remus complained. "Tonks, that hurt."

"Sorry." Tonks replied as she tried to untangle herself.

"Do you two need some privacy?" An amused female voice sounded.

Remus twisted his head to see who spoke amidst the laughter. "Very funny. Miss... Bones?"

"Correct." Susan replied grinning.

"May I ask what you are doing here, wherever here is?"

"That would be my house." Hermione replied.

"Hello again Hermione. How are you?" Remus finally got to his feet.

"I'm fine, thank you Professor."

"Glad to hear it. I was concerned when I heard how badly you were injured you were, and please call me Remus, or Moony."

"I appreciate it." Hermione smiled.

She turned serious. "I'll grab my parents, you introduce Moony to Sally. Dobby set the Pensive up in the Lounge."

"Okay." Harry nodded. "Moony, this way please."

"Okay, but who's Sally?"

"Sally, this is Remus Lupin, or Moony. He has permission to visit."

Remus was confused by Harry appearing to be talking to nothing but shadow, until a shape became visible in the darkness. A large shape that seemed to be moving in snake like fashion. The shape resolved itself as the light began to strike it cleanly. Remus stepped back instinctively and reached for his wand before Harry placed a calming hand on his arm.

Remus looked up at the massive skeletal snake as it stared down at him. Its head dipped in an unmistakable bow which Remus found himself returning unconsciously.

"Moony, meet Sally. Formerly Slytherin's monster from the Chamber of Secrets."

"Merlin." Remus breathed as the snake retreated back into the shadows. "Is that the thing I heard about you killing in your second year?"

"Yes," Harry replied simply, "because losing wasn't an option."

Remus nodded mutely.

"Come on. Time's a wasting." Tracy called from the door to the rest of the extension.

Harry led Remus after the other girls and into the Lounge.

"This seems a pretty big place for a muggle house." Remus commented as he sat.

"This is a magical extension I had added to Hermione's home. The door the Hermione went through leads to the original muggle house."

"Ah." Remus nodded in understanding.

They chatted quietly while the Pensive sat in the centre of the lounge ominously. Hermione soon returned with her parents.

"Can muggles even use a Pensive?" Remus asked.

Harry exchanged looks with the other girls who all shrugged.

"I guess we're about to find out." Harry commented. "I'll leave you all to it."

"You're not coming?" Remus asked, surprised.

"No. I lived through these, I would prefer not to have to do it again unless necessary." Harry replied as he stood.

Remus nodded and joined the others around the Pensive.

"Just as well it's such a big one." Daphne commented as they all reached in.

Harry left. He would focus on his training. He mustn't neglect it just because he's busy.

He trained with his swords, staff, martial arts and finally his spell work. Dobby was more than happy to work the trap and launch the clays for Harry to target. He was improving. He wasn't hitting everyone yet but he was getting close.

Dobby delivered a late lunch to him. Harry was a little surprised at how long the others were taking but didn't worry. The longer it was before he had to look at those memories the better as far as he was concerned.

After he had eaten he started in on his Occlumency practise. He hadn't been at it long when he felt Dobby's presence.

"Hi, Dobby. What is it?"

"Hello Master Harry. A letter has arrived for you."

"Thanks." Harry took the letter and opened it as the elf bowed and vanished.

_Dear Mr Potter,_

_I hope this letter finds you in good health and you are coping with your recent changes._

_I recently learned that you have not returned to your Aunt and Uncles residence as I had expected, as such I find myself recalling certain words with a little worry._

_I know I told you not to practise alone, what I meant was 'not without proper supervision'. With you now residing at Miss Granger's you can practise freely without breaking your promise to me._

_While I am sure that Miss Granger is ensuring that you are remain safe I would prefer a more skilled presence, or at least ensuring you are following proper procedures._

_As such, with yours and hers permission, I would like to visit and personally assess your progress and safety procedures._

_I do hope you are enjoying your summer vacation and are remaining safe._

_Prof. M McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress, Hogwarts  
_

Harry reread the letter again. This could be good or bad, or even both at the same time. He would ask the others when they returned for their opinion. It could be useful though. Tracy was having the most problems with her form having no limbs to practise partial transformations. Professor McGonagall may be able to help her, and himself when he got that far.

He returned to his Occlumency practise and had another half hour before he was disturbed again. This time it was everyone returning from working through the Pensive.

Harry was engulfed by hugs from everyone. They all had words for him, telling him how amazing he was, how sorry they were for what he had been through. Most of them were either struggling to repress their tears or had been crying. Emily had given him an extra long hug.

"Damn cub. I don't know how you managed to go through all that." Remus said as he sat near Harry.

"Yeah. I know Auror's who would quit rather than face some of those challenges." Tonks added.

"How could you survive so much on your own and still be this wonderful person." Emily came back to give him a second hug.

"What you went through at your aunt and uncles was criminal. They should be thrown in jail permanently." Daniel added his own comment.

Harry visibly retreated. "I just want to forget about it."

"Something should be done." Emily insisted.

"Well, Harry does own their house and a significant number of shares in the company his uncle works for." Hermione commented with an evil grin. "I'm sure we could come up with something."

"Interesting." Emily returned her daughter's grin.

"By the way, I got a letter from McGonagall." Harry tried to change the subject. "She's found out that I'm here and is concerned about some of our studies."

Hermione frowned. "Oh, I think I know what you mean. Yes. What did she have to say about it?"

Harry passed the letter over and let Hermione read it.

"I don't have a problem." Hermione shrugged.

"I thought that Tracy would benefit." Harry said.

"That's a good idea." Hermione nodded. "Are you going to send her a letter?"

"Later today or tomorrow morning."

"Good. Oh, Mum, Dad, you don't mind if one of my teachers' visit do you?"

"Depends on which one." Emily replied.

"Professor McGonagall."

"That's fine. It would be nice to see her again."

"While it's nice to watch you try and avoid the subject, we need to talk about what we saw." Daphne told him seriously.

"I think I can dodge a little longer." Harry tried to make light of it. "You all need to eat lunch."

Daphne opened her mouth to respond but her stomach chose that moment to start growling. She blushed. "Okay, you win."

Harry escaped while they ate and returned to his Occlumency practise. He needed all the calm he could get for the coming conversation.

!HPEaSE!

He was outside enjoying the fresh air. Today was not as warm and sunny as the previous days, clouds obscured most of the sky, though they were not the dark threatening clouds that would have reflected his current mood.

He had abandoned his Occlumency practise. His thoughts were too chaotic and went outside to try and relax. The soft, white slow moving clouds proved to the calming environment he needed. Lying on his back on the soft, well kept grass and the light breeze waved over him.

He felt a shift in the grass next to him as several people sat next to him. He looked over to see Hermione, Ginny, Daphne and Emily sitting there quietly, waiting for him.

"It's time isn't it?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded. "Sorry. There are a few things we need to discuss."

"We noticed a few discrepancies we should talk about." Daphne added.

"I thought you might." Harry groaned. "Okay. Let's go."

Harry followed them back to the upstairs Living Room.

"It's a nice place you have here cub." Remus greeted him.

"Thanks, Moony. I'll give you a tour later if I feel up to it." Harry replied.

"Cub? Moony?" Tracy looked between the two oddly. "Interesting nicknames, if lacking in inventiveness. They relate to your lycanthropy don't they?"

"Yes. My werewolf side does regard Harry as a pack cub for the time being. Moony was a nickname his father gave me in school."

"We can discuss his furry little problem later." Harry interrupted. "I would like to get this over and done with."

Tracy giggled at that. "Furry little problem?"

Remus grinned back. "Both Harry and his father came up with it. One of the girls in my year thought I had a badly behaved rabbit."

"Focus people." Hermione pulled a pad. "The things we noticed are the following in Chronological order.

"Ignoring the Dursley's, and we want to get back to that, Dumbledore didn't detect you-know-who's presence in Quirrell all year and we are curious why it took so long for Dumbledore to reach you while you were going after the Philosophers Stone. If his wards alerted him on an intrusion he should have flooed back from the Ministry while I was getting Ron out. I shouldn't have had time to send the owl, so his comment about crossing in mid air is suspect.

"With second year there are some questions around why no one set people straight that it defiantly wasn't Harry. The teachers seemed happy for the rumours to float around implicating Harry. We are also concerned that no one figured out it was a Basilisk. Then the fight at the end; the only support you got was Fawkes and the Sorting Hat. While it proved to be enough, why didn't he send real help? The only conclusion anyone offered was that Fawkes is smarter than he is and will be of more help in the future."

"That sounds like Tracy." Harry grinned at the Slytherin girl.

Tracy nodded. "Good guess."

Hermione cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "Third year was just a series of messes. Sirius Black sneaking around without anyone noticing, then at the end he was unable get a trial scheduled. He is the head of the Wizengamot. That is his job and responsibility. Thank you to both Susan and Daphne for informing us of that."

"How many aspects of the Wizarding World are kept from muggle-born?" Harry pondered.

"Too many. The pure-bloods always complain that muggle-borns don't respect the traditions of the Wizarding World." Daphne said.

"And they keep everything from them so they can keep complaining." Susan finished.

"It sounds like you need to completely redo how the entire education system works." Emily commented.

"It may come to that." Harry replied.

"Getting back on topic," Hermione regained everyone's attention, "I would like to express my concerns that he sent two third year students on an illegal mission to break free both the hippogriff and Sirius, at considerable risk I might add."

"You two have no idea how lucky you two are that neither of you were turned." Susan said.

Remus looked ashamed. "I really am sorry about that; I never knew how it was from your point of view."

"Drop it Moony." Harry waved him away. "Keep going."

Hermione continued. "Fourth year; Crouch junior managed to impersonate Moody for months without being discovered. Dumbledore and Moody are supposed to be old friends so it's worrying how easily he was deceived, especially after Quirrell and your suspicious entry into the tournament.

"And finally, fifth year. Dumbledore is a total victim of political manoeuvring, unexpected given his political strength."

"And I wonder why he never called my aunt." Susan interrupted in a musing voice. "She is a much more logical choice given the legal nature of most of those situations. She is also much more interested in doing thing properly instead of politically. She would have ensured Sirius had a trial if Dumbledore had come clean to her. She has had little knowledge of the events within Hogwarts which is disturbing."

"I agree." Hermione said. "But what is more disturbing is how much Umbridge was able to abuse her authority without being caught. We also have the end of year tragedy. The real worrying part is how long it took for Dumbledore to arrive to save us."

"I would like to point out that it was five to ten minutes between being alerted by Albus and our leaving for the Ministry." Tonks interjected. "It took about another ten minutes to penetrate the Ministry and engage the Death Eaters without disregarding all sense of safety and to ensure we didn't fall into an ambush."

Harry nodded. "I guess the problem is what happened to the hours we spent flying to London."

"Exactly." Hermione nodded. "Either Snape took his time telling Dumbledore of Dumbledore took his time telling the others. There is no way we should have beaten them if they had been doing things properly."

"So..." Harry prompted her to continue. "It sounds like we were set up."

"Yeah, but by whom." Hermione replied.

"I would say Snape but, as much of a git as he is, every time we blame him for anything outside the class room or his Slytherin favouritism we found out we were wrong." Harry commented.

"I agree. He is the obvious choice but there's no proof." Hermione nodded.

"I can get my aunt to ask him." Susan said. "If she still has him custody, it'll be easy."

"And will focus the blame." Daphne nodded. "Good suggestion."

Harry though about everything. "It almost looks like Dumbledore is either extremely incompetent or he had an agenda that he is keeping very close to his chest. One I don't think I will like."

"Seeing everything lined up like we did, it does point to something big." Ginny commented.

"Your belief confirms it for me." Hermione added.

"Huh?" Harry looked shocked. "You're the brains of the group."

"And you have an intuition I will never challenge. Hagrid and the dragon's egg. Myrtle and the Chamber of Secrets. Your reasoning around the Patronus in third year. So far the only significant mistake you've made in the five years I've known you was believing the vision Voldemort sent you and that isn't entirely your fault. If you had been warned of the possibility, I don't think you would've gone."

"Dumbledore seems to be forgetting that he is dealing with people and focusing on a plan that only he knows." Tonks said. "That isn't good for those following him."

"He has a game plan that involves Harry and that is his only proactive plan. Everything else is just reactionary." Remus added.

"So we need to be proactive?" Hannah asked.

"Yes. We need to take the fight to them on our terms, not theirs." Tonks replied. "We need a group that can strike at their supposed safe havens and capture them where possible and kill them where not."

"We could." Harry said softly. "Not yet, but soon."

"Yes, soon." Tonks replied. "As a group you are all coming along faster than any Auror class I've ever heard of. You have no idea how impress Kingsley was by Harry during that one duel and by everyone else's progression on Monday. We'll see how you've improved next Monday."

"One day of duelling a week isn't going to get us ready." Ginny told her.

"No, but once you have learnt the spells and supporting material we'll do more. Multiple opponents, stronger opponents. You will be ready. Madam Bones is very interested in your progress. I think she has something in mind. This might be it."

"Or a security force for Hogwarts." Susan suggested. "It's a target for attacks and holding all of us hostages will put a huge pressure on the leaders of the Wizarding World."

"Plus I'd probably be there." Harry said darkly. "My presence makes any place a target."

"Just shows that you must be good." Tonks gently nudged his shoulder. "You'll be ready, the next time you face him."

"Tonks, how do you go about getting permission to tell a muggle about the Wizarding World?" Emily asked.

"You need a good reason. Why? Who do you want to tell?"

"My father and grandfather. They both served in the military and might have some training advice. I was also hoping that they know someone who served in the SAS who is trustworthy. That training would be invaluable."

"SAS?" Padma asked.

"They are specially trained military personnel who handle classified assignments in enemy territory without support. They are trained to fight, and survive, in extremely adverse circumstances." Emily explained. "They do the sorts of things you would be doing, if Tonks is correct."

"That may help." Harry pondered. "They could train us with muggle weapons as well couldn't they?"

"Yes." Emily nodded.

"I'll talk to Shack." Tonks told Emily.

"And I'll talk to Aunty." Susan added. "I'm sure she will see the value of it."

"Thanks." Emily looked relieved. "They are trained to survive and I really want to see all of you survive this war."

Hermione grabbed her mother in a fierce hug which was returned in equal fervour.

"Thanks, Emily." Harry told her sincerely. "I want to celebrate Voldemort's downfall with everyone here."

"You're welcome."

Hermione released her mother from her hug and tried to move the topic to a better subject. "So, I think we can all agree that there is much more going on than we are currently aware of but we need more information so if everyone can keep a look out, we may figure this out before it's too late to counter it if we need to. On a brighter note, Harry, how's your training coming along?"

"I didn't cover everything I wanted. I need to put a bit more into my Occlumency and there is my promise to McGonagall to consider." Harry replied.

"Okay, we can do that now if you want."

"Thanks but I think I need to work of this mood a little so I'm going to show Moony the World Room and then get some more practise."

"If you want some duelling practise, I'll help if you want?" Remus offered.

"Thanks. I'll try not to be too rough on you." Harry grinned.

"Oh, you are so going down for that." Remus fired back as he followed Harry from the room.

The girls watched the two leave.

"He looks happier." Ginny commented with a soft smile.

"Yeah, I'm glad." Daphne agreed. "I could tell the mere thought of those memories disturbed him. I would never have thought a former professor would be able to do that."

"When Professor McGonagall arrives, ask her about the Marauders." Hermione grinned.

"Who were they?"

"You'll find out."

!HPEaSE!

Harry didn't quite make good on his bragging. It was close though but Remus had the advantage of experience and werewolf senses and reflexes. Harry had been holding back though, none of the skills he was practising during his martial arts lessons were used.

Remus had shown him a few tricks that he learnt during the first war, something that had initially taken Harry by surprise by. He had adapted quickly and soon had Remus on the defensive. Remus had to use all his experience, from the war and his time as a Marauder, to regain the advantage and finally managed wrap Harry in ropes.

Harry tried to use his wandless magic to get free but didn't manage to work the cutting charm quickly enough before being stunned. He made a mental note to make that spell the next one he learnt, along with any other to help free him if he was every captured again, and more work on shielding.

"That was quite the work out." Remus collapsed on the ground next to Harry.

"I was hoping to do better." Harry was disappointed.

"Given your lack of training you did amazingly well." Remus told him. "Especially given your lack of formal training and shift in balance."

"Huh?"

"You mean you haven't noticed?" Remus looked astounded. "Women have a different centre of gravity than men. It should have thrown off your balance."

"I can't say I've noticed. Either I've simply adapted or these things are so big they distracted me from the shift." Harry folded an arm across his breasts.

Remus blushed. "I supposed it could be that. I need to get going. It's been great seeing you again. When can I see you again?"

"That sounded like you were asking me on a date." Harry growled then relaxed. "I have duelling on Monday mornings around ten, if you want to help?"

"That would be good." Remus replied. "I'll forgo the kiss goodnight, Tonks would hex me if she thought I was hitting on another woman."

"I'll hex you if you start hitting on me." Harry glared. "I have more than enough female troubles; I don't need any male ones."

"But you're so pretty." Remus teased.

"So, despite your protests, Tonks is older than you prefer... and the wrong gender."

"Oh, you'll pay for that one cub." Remus shot back. "I'll see you Monday."

"Looking forward to it." Harry stood. "Now go take Tonks on a real date."

"Sounds good." Tonks chirped, she and the others had snuck on them unnoticed. "Do I need to look like a younger boy to land you?"

Remus groaned. "I don't believe it. No one other than Lily has ever managed to get me so thoroughly. You really are a Marauder Harry."

"Thanks. See you Monday." Harry waved as Remus was dragged away by a cheerful Tonks.

"So, what's next?" Hermione asked.

"I still need to practise my Animagus form but you all should do a little training." Harry replied.

"After what we saw, I feel the need to prepare for the worst." Ginny looked down. "It's going to get worse before it gets better isn't it?"

"My biggest fear is that it will never get better." Harry replied quietly. "If I lose, that's it."

"That depends on how real the Prophesy is." Daphne said. "It may be simply be that you and Voldemort have to resolve a few things first."

"How do you get that?" Hannah asked. "You heard what it said."

"Yes. Nowhere did it say that they had to kill each other to fulfil it." Daphne explained. "It's just that you-know-who isn't going to leave Harry alone. He can't, it destroys his perfect record."

"So I'm screwed." Harry slumped.

"No, it just means you have to keep surviving until you or someone else manages to beat him." Daphne glared at him. "Actually, his focus on you may mean that someone else will get a shot at him."

Harry looked at her thoughtfully. "So you think I should fight him while one of you looks for an opening?"

"I'm training to fight at your side, as are Ginny, Susan and Luna." Daphne told him. "We will help you get rid of every Death Eater between you and him then we will help you beat him."

"Well put." Susan said.

"You aren't alone Harry." Ginny looked him in the eyes. "Don't ever think otherwise."

Harry tried to say something and after a couple of false starts managed to find the words. "I just have a feeling that no matter how much we might wish otherwise, it's going to be him and me, alone, battling it out."

"So, we prepare you so well he won't stand a chance." Susan replied. "We are going to win and we are all going to be here to celebrate afterwards."

The other girls agreed empathically, daring Harry to defy them. He didn't, he wasn't that stupid.

He didn't want to either. He actually felt better knowing he had their support behind him. He felt buoyed.

"Thanks. That makes me feel better." Harry sighed. "I think I might need to keep hearing that though."

"Whenever you need." Daphne smiled. "Come on, we need to practise. I'm sure Tracy will work with you on your Animagus form."

"Of course, I need more practise with mine too." Tracy said.

"We can practise our duelling and other spell work." Ginny added. "I think we need a little more training before challenging you."

"Just a little?" Daphne queried. "Have you seen how much he improves with each duel he has?"

"So we need to learn to work together." Susan shrugged. "We needed to at some point."

"How will that work?" Harry asked.

"We team up and attack you." Susan answered. "We will learn to work in pairs and as a combined team and you practise against multiple opponents."

"Okay." Harry thought it over. "Sounds good."

"Come on Harry." Tracy caught his arm to lead him away. "We'll practise in the Lounge and let them train in peace."

Harry let himself be dragged off as he waved goodbye to the others.

Daphne waited until he was out of sight. "He still doubts himself doesn't he?"

"Yeah." Hermione replied sadly. "He worries so much about others, I really wonder sometimes if he is training to survive or simply take Him with him."

"Oh, Merlin." Ginny paled. "That would be totally Harry wouldn't it. Sacrificing himself to save everyone else."

"We have to do something." Susan insisted.

"We are doing something." Daphne assured her. "We're training to stand with him, and if it comes to it, we drag his arse to safety and come up with a new plan."

"So, let's get to work." Hermione clapped her hands together in anticipation.

!HPEaSE!

Tracy and Harry were taking turns at practising their transformations, and teasing each other. Harry was regretting his choice in clothing. While in the bikini Hermione had talked him into, the tail simple required him to slide the bottoms down a little and it would form over the top freely. In shorts it was proving uncomfortable to say the least.

Tracy wasn't helping. She had actually reached up under her short skirt and removed her panties entirely and now had a smooth tail protruding out from the back. It was scaly and showing the colouring of her final form. She had allowed Harry to touch it and they both were surprised by how soft and smooth it was.

Of course, in return she had wanted to brush his tail.

She had been working on changing as much as she could and had managed a forked tongue, fangs and started changing the colour of her skin, with the scales beginning to form.

Harry was much further along. Much further.

"Winky." Tracy called.

"Yes, Miss Tracy?" Winky appeared.

"Could you bring a large sheet or blanket please? And maybe a skirt or dress for Harry?"

Harry glared at the Slytherin. "Why thank you." He said sarcastically.

He didn't manage to stop Winky. She had vanished and returned with a large blanket and both a white mini skirt and a pale green dress. "Heres you go."

"Thanks." Tracy accepted the items.

Winky bowed and vanished again.

"You're just loving this aren't you." Harry growled.

Tracy nodded happily. "Yep. This is a lot of fun. Teasing you is fun too. You really need to learn how to fight properly, you might even enjoy it."

"Okay." Harry replied sceptically. "Now, what's the blanket for?"

"Your privacy. I think you need to practice changing your whole body and you can't do that in clothes without wreaking them."

"Thanks." Harry replied gratefully.

Tracy held the blanket up as a screen while Harry stripped behind it and took it from her and wrapped it around himself lightly.

"Of course," he added, "it's not like you would be seeing anything new, especially this morning."

Tracy blushed. "I really am sorry about that. It was a horrible invasion of your privacy."

"So you keep telling me."

"If it makes you feel any better, you looked really good."

"Thanks." Harry paused. "I would offer you the same complement but I'm afraid I lack the necessary information."

Tracy blushed fiercely. "You... Arrgh. Okay you got me. That's what I'm talking about. Wasn't that fun?"

"Yeah, it was actually." Harry seemed a little surprise.

"Good, I hope you will enjoy getting that missing information just as much."

It was Harry's turn to blush. "Umm. How are you about that?" He asked quietly.

"I'm not against the idea." Tracy replied seriously. "After that time in the World Room when we gave you our power to help you I've been noticing you more. Noticing you as a potential partner. Thinking about what it might be like to be with you."

"How do you feel about it? About being with me, even with all my problems?"

"Yes, you have a unique set of difficulties but to assume that any guy is problem free would be stupid."

"Have you dated anyone? If you don't mind me asking?"

"I don't. No, not really. I went to the Yule Ball during the Tournament with a student from Durmstrang whose name I can't even remember. The dating pool in Slytherin is limited and the only other house that you find someone and not be looked down on is Ravenclaw and they're a bit dull at times."

"I didn't realise." Harry paused. "I can't say I ever really thought about it."

"You were a bit... 'limited' in your view of the world, we're you?" Tracy said pointedly.

"Yeah, I was." Harry nodded as he looked at his feet. "This is crazy; I have to look around my breasts to see my own feet."

Tracy giggled. "Daphne said something similar a while ago."

"Really?" Harry looked up.

"Girls might not be totally obsessed about our own or each other's bodies but we do discuss them." Tracy said. "Now, transform!"

"Yes, Ma'am."

Harry focused on his transformation and pushed his power into it. He could feel his body distorting and elongating and he had to lean forward and put his hands on the ground to stop himself falling over. He felt the blanket fall and tried to grab it but failed.

"Oh my gosh, you're so beautiful." Tracy gushed.

Harry looked at her and tried to protest but his attempts at speaking failed miserably.

Tracy stepped forward and rubbed her hands along his sides. Harry suddenly realised that he had completed the transformation.

"You feel so soft." Tracy actually rubbed her face into the soft fur at his shoulder.

Harry could feel the change starting to fail and tried to get her attention. He failed and found himself changing back suddenly. Tracy was still leaning against his shoulder and found herself falling forward as Harry disappeared in front of her.

Her arms flailed and one managed to catch onto Harry and she clung to him firmly. Unfortunately she was off balance and falling and Harry was still regaining his balance after returning to his human form. The result was the two of them hitting the floor in a pile her Tracy's face planted into Harry's chest.

They lay there a minute getting their breath back from the fall.

"Umm. Tracy. Do you mind?"

Tracy pulled back and flushed bright red as she got a very close view of Harry's breasts and realised just what had cushioned her fall.

"Sorry." She pulled away and rolled over. "Are you okay?"

"Just a couple of bruises." Harry checked himself over.

Tracy sat up and picked up the blanket and handed it back to Harry. "I'm really sorry about that."

"It's okay. Just be careful. I could feel myself about to change back but I couldn't get your attention."

"Yeah. Umm. You just felt so nice that I couldn't stop." Tracy admitted as she stood. "I'll try to be more professional next time."

"I would appreciate that." Harry replied dryly.

Harry wrapped the blanket around himself and sat down on a sofa and turned slightly as Tracy sat next to him.

"That was really amazing." She said softly. "You looked to be almost glowing; your fur was so white and soft."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The others are going to be all over you when they find out." Tracy managed a grin.

"Oh no." Harry groaned.

"Really? I would've thought that a guy would love to have eight girls running their hands all over his body."

"So I'm not most guys." Harry fired back.

"We know." Tracy responded easily and gently caught his face and made him look her in the eyes. "It's because you're 'you' that we're handling this situation so well. Do you think any of us dreamed of being married to a guy with half a dozen other girls?"

"Probably not, no."

"Exactly. You have made this so easy for us. We can be so relaxed and just be friends without any pressure. There is no animosity between any of us, we are even learning more than I would ever have expected. I'm happy, Harry. I'm really happy and I know the others are too."

"Really?" Harry looked hopeful.

"Really." Tracy smiled gently. "We are happy. We can be happy because of you. However much you may hate being different, just remember that those differences are 'why' we are happy.

"You're a very rare person. Do be afraid of your uniqueness, it's why we all want you without being jealous of each other."

"Are you sure it's not the oath?"

"They may help keep the little, inevitable jealously at bay but I doubt it would stop any real jealously from rearing its ugly head."

"I'm still not sure I get it." Harry said softly.

"And that may be for the best." Tracy told him. "It will keep you constant trying to keep us happy. Just don't forget yourself."

"Isn't that your job?"

Tracy laughed. "True. We'll all do our best to help you be happy, but you have to find what it is that makes you happy, aside from us."

Harry smiled. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. I think we'll have conversation a few more times though. After seeing what your life has been like I can understand that you aren't going to believe it for a while yet."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault. Come on. Try your form again."

Harry nodded and stood and loosened the blanket a little. He focused on his form and shifted again.

"Yup." Tracy looked him over. "Just a beautiful as before. Try walking. Carefully."

Harry nodded and started taking careful steps forward. It was pretty easy as he moved around the room slowly. He lasted a little longer this time and nodded to the blanket. Tracy held it up and Harry shifted back and took it back from her.

"How was it?"

"Pretty easy actually. You have enough of the animal's instincts that you just need to relax and trust them and you should be fine."

"That's good to know. I was a little concerned amount moving around in my form."

"I think you'll be fine."

"Good to know." Tracy replied. "Now that you've completed the transformation do you feel any different?"

"Umm. I don't know." Harry paused. "It's hard to say."

"Think about it. I'm interested in knowing."

"Why?"

"Hermione, Padma and I are documenting this. We were particularly interested in the changes we each experience due to having a form and what that form is."

"Okay." Harry shrugged. "I'll let you know."

"Thanks."

"Now, it's your turn."

Tracy nodded and attempted to shift herself again. She got more of her scales and snake colouring showing.

They chatted as they practised learning more about each other as the afternoon wore on.

Harry managed to hold his form for about twenty minutes before they finished. Tracy was doing well but she hadn't solved the issue of limbs and was looking forward to talking to Professor McGonagall about it.

"Hey, do you want to surprise the others?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"Do you mind if I ride you to join the others?"

"What about changing back?"

"I'll bring the blanket, and your dress."

"The dress?" Harry protested.

"Well, if you want to fight with your top and pants and the blanket at the same time."

"Damn. You win." Harry growled as he realised her point.

Still wrapped in the blanket with Tracy carrying his dress, and Winky returning to put the other clothing away, they headed out to the World Room. Once they left the club house and were 'outside' Harry changed back and stooped so that Tracy could mount him easier.

Standing back up he waited until she had gotten settled and arranged the blanket and dress before setting off. He started into a trot as he got more comfortable and Tracy seemed to be sitting comfortable. He even managed to move up into a slow canter.

Tracy noticed it as soon as she was sitting astride him. She had forgotten her panties. Harry's soft fur, covering the entire body of the Unicorn form, was wonderful when she was petting him earlier. Now, sitting astride him, with nothing between them, she found it was an extremely intimate position. Then he started walking. She felt rippling muscles along his back as he moved. She flushed slightly as she found the feeling both stimulating and erotic. And he sped up it got worse, or better depending on your point of view.

She was very flushed and very excited by the time they reached the others.

They had all stopped what they were doing once they had noticed the Unicorn and rider approaching and marvelled at the grace of the magnificent animal that almost seemed to be glowing as it cantered lightly towards them.

Tracy looked flushed and very happy from her position atop the Unicorn as it pulled up and she swung a leg over to slide off.

"Wow. Is that Harry?" Hermione asked, astonished.

"Yep. Magnificent isn't he." Tracy looked Harry's form over proudly.

"To say the least."

The girls clustered round Harry stroking his soft fur and complementing him.

Hannah was more detailed in her inspection as she skilfully lifted Harry's feet to inspect them.

"Have you ridden horses?" Hermione asked her when she noticed her inspection.

"I used to. With studying at Hogwarts it hard to keep it up and my horse broke a leg badly when she got spooked during a thunderstorm a few years ago while I was at school and had to be put down."

"Oh, gosh. That must have been awful." Hermione actually paused her stroking to look at the Hufflepuff.

"It was. I haven't gotten a new one since I don't have time anymore, and I still miss her a bit." Hannah shrugged.

"I'm sure Harry would let you ride him occasionally if you ask nicely. You can practise for when you're ready to get a new one."

Hannah paused as her inspection moved around Harry's hindquarters. "Her. Harry's Unicorn form is a mare."

"Oh dear." Daphne said from where she had been listening. "I think Harry's a little upset by that."

Indeed, Harry's head had drooped a bit at hearing that, although he couldn't honestly say he didn't expect it.

"Can we have a ride?" Hermione asked Harry.

Harry looked over at Tracy and nodded as closely to her watch as he could. It was enough and she checked.

"I'm not sure. He has time to give one person a short ride but he can only hold this form for a short while." Tracy said. "If he wants to stop then you'll have to get off immediately."

Hermione nodded. "That's fine. May I please, Harry?"

Harry nodded and turned to make it easier for her to mount. Hannah offered her a lift and Hermione was soon sitting high above her friends.

"Grip with your knees." Hannah instructed. "You should be able to grip Harry's mane but make sure you get good handfuls or you might hurt him."

Hermione nodded. "Gotcha. I'm ready Harry."

Harry started off slowly, letting Hermione get comfortable before moving into a trot. Hermione was soon laughing happily as they circled the group. Harry felt amazing between her thighs and she was soon flushed from her excitement as she enjoyed the feel of Harry's rippling back muscles.

Harry stopped, far too soon for her tastes, and nodded to Tracy. Tracy unfolded the blanket she was holding and held it up for Harry as he returned to his human form.

"Did you two enjoy that?" Harry asked as he wrapped the blanket around himself.

"Yes. That was amazing." Hermione gushed. "I was actually riding a Unicorn. Please tell me we can do that again."

"I suppose, but don't push it please." Harry replied. "I'm not a pet."

"Trust me, I don't think of you as a pet." Hermione said fervently.

"Here." Tracy handed Harry's dress over. "I think you should stop for the day. You can do more tomorrow and give the others a ride but you've been doing this all afternoon, you need a break."

"Okay. I don't think I'm too tired but I think I feel a little achy." Harry paused. "I might have overdone it a little. I'll see how I feel tomorrow."

"Okay." Tracy nodded.

"Rats. I wanted a turn." Susan pouted.

"If I feel up to it tomorrow, you can go first." Harry reassured her.

Susan cheered.

"Well, now that you are here you can help us train." Daphne changed the subject.

"I should wear a bra if I'm going to be running around." Harry groaned. "I regretted it the last time it didn't."

"I'll take care of that." Daphne pulled her wand and fired a spell at him.

It was only Harry's trust for the Slytherin that he didn't dodge and go for his own wand.

"Try bouncing." Daphne asked.

Harry bounced on his toes and looked down in surprise at the lack of movement and tried a harsher jump. "Hey, that's pretty good. Why don't we use that more?"

"Because it does nothing to hide your nipples when they get perky and I hate boys staring at them." Daphne answered. "I also really like my new bras. They're really pretty and I feel good wearing them but sometime I need more support. Though the sports bras we got a very nearly as good."

"Can you teach me that spell?"

"Sure. Later though, right now we need to train."

"Okay. What's first?"

"You defend yourself from me and Ginny." Daphne grinned ferally as she took her stance with Ginny.

The others backed off and Tracy tossed Harry his wand. "You might need this."

"Thanks." Harry readied himself and waited for the two girls to begin.

The two girls nodded to each other and both fired off simultaneous stunners which Harry easily dodged and returned fire. By an unspoken agreement they stuck to stunners, disarming curses and other relatively gentle spells.

Hermione quietly moved next to Tracy as they watched the duel.

"You felt it too didn't you?" She whispered discretely in the other girl's ear.

"Felt what?" Tracy didn't manage to keep the smile off her face at the memory.

"How flushed you were when you arrived, your grin now. Riding Harry turned you on didn't it?"

"More than you, I imagine."

"More, really? What makes you think that?"

"We may be both wearing skirts but I had to take my panties off during the Animagus training since they were getting in the way and forgot to put them back on."

"Oh. Um. Yes. That would do it." Hermione was flustered at that thought. "Should I try that?"

Tracy's head snapped round to stare at Hermione. "Seriously?"

Hermione nodded, flushing.

"Go for it." Tracy paused. "I should warn you though; if we hadn't stopped when we did I would have had an awkward conversation with him about why there was a wet patch on his back."

"Thanks." Hermione grinned at the other girl's embarrassment. "Should we warn the others?"

"What's the fun in that?" Tracy grinned at her.

Hermione giggled slightly. "Would Harry be insulted if we got him a bridle and bit?"

"Yes, but it doesn't mean we can't tease him about it though. I'm wondering if he can do a partial transformation."

"Partial?"

"Yeah, it came to me when we were practising our tails. I was wondering what he would look like as a centaur." Tracy explained.

"That's an interesting idea. We'll ask him when he finishes here."

"Shouldn't be much longer." Tracy nodded towards the duel. "I think he's got them."

Harry had taken the upper hand. As much as they tried Ginny and Daphne just weren't experienced enough at working together to use their numerical advantage against him. While their spell work was fast and accurate, Harry easily flowed around their spells as he dodged.

Harry soon managed to get them on the defensive and take control of the fight. Try as they might the two girls couldn't regain their momentum and Harry finally disarmed Daphne. Ginny had more practise from her time in the DA but couldn't hold Harry on her own and her wand soon joined Daphne's in Harry's left hand.

"Well done you two." Harry complemented the two as they sat to get their breath back. 'That was really good.

"Not good enough." Daphne protested. "You aren't even breathing heavily. We really need to up our training."

Ginny nodded. "Yeah. That was a good practise though. I think I know what I was doing wrong. I'll try and correct it and we'll try again later."

Daphne agreed. "I'll work with you on that. I'm probably making some of the same mistakes."

Harry nodded. "Good luck then. Susan, Luna, want a turn?"

"No, but let's go." Susan replied.

Luna had bounced forward immediately but stopped at that comment. "Don't you want to do this?"

"It's a fight I'm going to lose." Susan shrugged. "I'm not that comfortable knowing that. Maybe once we get better we will be able to make a proper fight of it but right now?"

"We're doing this so we can improve faster." Luna caught her arm and pulled her forward. "Come on."

Harry found this a harder fight. Ginny and Daphne were similar, though they had very different styles. Ginny was more aggressive while Daphne was cooler headed but neither had an orthodox style. Each had their own personal style that matched their personalities and had developed a nice balance of defending and attacking between the two that had made it harder for Harry to counter. With more practise he knew he would have had to start using other skills to beat them.

Susan had a more orthodox style but Luna was totally unorthodox. On their either own would have been easy to beat but together their styles mixed in a surprising effective blend. Harry rolled aside from a random collection of spells from Luna and raised a shield to block Susan's contribution as he came back to his feet and readied himself for his offensive.

He sent a barrage at Luna and was surprised by her agility, but it wasn't enough and she was soon stunned. Susan had tried to help the Ravenclaw but Harry easily dodged her spells without breaking his assault. Susan then found him focused on her and ended up in a similar state.

She shook her head to clear it when Harry enervated her. "That was disappointing. I had hoped to do better."

"I didn't think any of you did badly." Harry said. "You certainly picked your pairs right. I think you just need to practise more as a team. I managed to isolate you from each other too easily."

"Something for us to work on." Daphne said. "If any of you come up with an idea to improve our team work, please say something."

The others nodded.

"Now that that's all sorted. Tracy had an idea." Hermione grinned. "Do you think you could do a partial transformation?"

"Huh?" Harry looked at the two witches in confusion.

"I was just wondering how you would look as a centaur." Tracy smiled.

!HPEaSE!

That wasn't the last duel for the day.

Bill and Fleur stopped by that evening after dinner. Bill wanted to see his little sister and see how Harry was doing with his warding practise.

When Harry had mentioned that he had set up some wards already, Bill insisted on seeing them. Hermione had run after them leaving Ginny alone with Fleur to follow after them at a slower place.

She would never be sure what was actually said between her and the older French girl, something about her brother involving her unsuitability probably, but things soon became heated and harsh words exchanged, followed by spells as Ginny fired her Bat Bogey Hex at the part Veela.

It had become a duel between the two girls and not a gentle one as clothing was torn by near misses and they began to accumulate cuts and bruises. Ginny's spells were moving much faster than Fleur's, nearly faster than she could dodge, forcing her to rely heavily on shielding and struggle to counter attack. Unfortunately, the spells were low powered and while they were getting through the French girl's defences they were less effective, though the damage was accumulating. Fleur was pushed to her limit and using all her training to keep pace. So far she had only managed to score a few times on the younger red head, but their effect was undeniable.

Both witches were beginning to tire. Their anger, which had fuelled them in the beginning was starting to fade and the damage they were taking. The fact it was the end of a long day compounded these issues and the two were now covered in sweat. Still, they both refused to submit.

The duel ended when Ginny slipped and sprained her knee and was unable to stand. She had managed to hit Fleur with another weak stunner as she fell, knocking her down. Fleur wasn't quite as fit as Ginny and, while still conscious, was struggling to sit up again.

Ginny was also trying to get back up but her knee and exhaustion stopped her.

"Zat was good." Fleur said once her breath had returned enough. "You duel very well. Who taught you?"

"Harry. You're not bad either."

"Beauxbatons 'as a skilled duelling instructor. Something I noticed was missing from 'Ogwarts."

"There was a duelling club during my first year briefly."

"What happened?"

"The teacher was an idiot and Harry's parseltongue ability was revealed during the first class. Which was also the last class. We didn't really have anything else until Harry taught us during the DA last year."

"'E must be a good teacher. 'Ow good is 'is duelling?"

"Much better than me. Daphne and I teamed up against him and he bet us without getting out of breath."

"Impressive. Per'aps I should challenge 'im sometime. Another day though. I'm much too sore right now."

Ginny didn't comment and after a long silence she looked over at Fleur and saw her studying her intently.

"I'm not trying to take your brother from you." Fleur said softly. "I was 'oping to gain a new sister. Bill has always talked highly of you."

"I don't think you're good enough for him." Ginny shot back.

"Why? Because I'm part Veela?"

"You're too dumb."

Fleur gasped. "Oh. I understand. It's an act, one only 'Arry and Bill have seen through so far."

"An act." Ginny said sceptically.

"Oui. With the way I look and my Veela allure; I 'ave very few friends. Boys drool and girls are jealous of me because of it. If I was intelligent as well I would likely be 'exed at every turn by those jealous witches."

Ginny looked appalled. "Like I just did?"

"Oui." Fleur gave her a gentle smile.

"Sorry." Ginny apologised.

"I know. You were defending your brother from zee 'big bad Veela girl'. I'm not angry. You 'ad better motives than many 'o 'ave challenged me."

"Still. I should've had better control of my temper."

"No offence, but you are still young with much left to learn about life."

Ginny bristled at little at that but lacked the energy to be angry.

"So, you aren't just a dumb, vapid blonde?" Ginny replied.

"Non. I just use it as a defence. You would be surprised 'ow many men underestimate me with that act."

"You fooled me." Ginny grumbled.

"I fool most people. It is only rare people like your brother and 'Arry that take zee time to look closer." Fleur smiled. "I like 'Arry very much but Bill makes my 'eart sing. Do you have someone who makes your 'eart sing?"

Ginny blushed and nodded.

"Ah. Congratulations." Fleur's smiled broadened. "It is 'Arry, non? Veela are sensitive to such things. I thought I could feel a connection."

Ginny flushed more and nodded again.

"Ah, bon. Though I am confused by something."

"What?"

"I thought I felt zee same connection between 'Arry and 'Ermione."

"Oh. That. Umm. I'm not sure how to put this."

"You don't 'ave to tell me." Fleur told her. "I am just confused how two girls could 'ave such a strong bond with the same wizard."

"Because we're both married to him."

Fleur coughed in shock. It was the most indecorous thing Ginny had ever seen the blonde witch do.

"'Ow can two girls be married to the same boy. Does Bill know?"

"I don't think so. Please don't tell him. The situation is awkward enough without my family getting involved."

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. May I ask what 'appened?"

"Hermione and I, and half a dozen other girls, swore an oath to help Harry. We found out later that the particular oath we used also created a marriage bond between us."

"So 'Arry 'as eight wives?"

"Yup." Ginny flopped back. "Crazy isn't it."

"To say the least. 'Ow are you coping?"

"Surprisingly well. Harry just makes it easy. We all get along really well so it's been pretty fun."

"That's good to 'ear. Gaby will be disappointed when she learns that 'Arry is already married. She 'as been quite taken with 'im since 'e rescued 'er from the lake."

"She's not the first girl he's rescued."

"Non. 'Arry saved you Bill tells me."

"Yeah, my first year. That... I don't know what to say about that. We both nearly died."

"That is dreadful." Fleur looked aghast.

Ginny nodded.

"I can see this is making you uncomfortable. We should join the others." Fleur stood and offered Ginny her hand.

"Thanks."

"I will not betray your trust." Fleur looked at the younger girl intently. "I was 'oping to have gained a fun new sister and I 'ope you will eventually feel zee same way."

"I think I might be able to, but I have lots of new sisters at the moment." Ginny replied ruefully.

"Oui. I am 'appy to be a sister, or big sister if you need, but I want us to be friends."

"We can. Sorry for attacking you."

"Don't worry. You are very good."

"So are you. I guess there was a reason you were chosen to be in the Tournament."

"Oui. If you want a practise partner, I would be 'appy to 'elp."

"Can you tell me why I didn't beat you?"

"Oui. Your casting is very good and some 'ow your spells move much faster than mine, which I would like to learn, but they lacked power. If you 'ad more power in your spells you would 'ave won."

"I feel a little silly now. That's not really a good reason to lose."

"Don't doubt what you 'ave learned." Fleur spoke firmly. "The fast, low power spells conserve your power and keep your opponent off balance. If you can give them normal strength as well when you need it you will 'ave a formidable set of skills."

"Thanks." Ginny smiled happily at her new friend.

!HPEaSE!

Bill was impressed with Harry's practise wards. He moved through them in the same order that Harry created them and saw how Harry had improved each time.

"Very very good. You've learnt a lot of lessons that most warding apprentices struggle to learn during their first few months. How long did it take you to do all of these?"

"One afternoon." Harry replied.

Bill stared at him. "You did in a few hours something that took me two months to learn. If you ever go into business, can I be your apprentice?"

"Uh." Harry blushed and ducked his head.

Bill smiled and moved on to the last ward.

"Okay, now I just hate you." Bill looked depressed. "I'm still learning how to weave wards. I'm considered very good but these are nearly as good as mine. I reckon that you're going to be beating me soon. You'll have to give me some lessons."

"Sorry." Harry looked a little sad.

"Bill." Hermione scolded the older red head. "Be nice."

"Sorry, Harry. That was mean of me. It's just that these are really good. What made you think of doing it like this?"

"It just seemed the best way of doing it." Harry shrugged. "I thought that if each ward was linked to all the others then it would be stronger."

"Correct. They become harder to break because you are forced to bring them all down at once which is much harder than just one. MUCH harder." Bill emphasised his point firmly.

"But if you separate them wouldn't it be easy to take it apart one at a time?" Harry asked.

"Harry, you could count on one had the number of people who are skilled enough to do that on one hand with fingers left over. Even if we include you."

"Oh." Harry looked surprised.

"Oh." Bill smiled. "Do you want some pointers on bringing them down?"

"Okay, please." Harry perked up.

"There isn't much point in you dropping these wards since you created them and have total control of them but I can demonstrate a few things and I'll create some wards for you to practise on before I go."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Hermione, you can help me though." Bill grinned evilly at the witch was watching them intently.

"Please?" Hermione was nearly bouncing in excitement, ruining the effect Bill had been going for.

Bill waved her over and talked them through the techniques to drop the wards.

Hermione was excited to try out Bill's teachings and he let her while he weaved a set of wards for Harry to practise on.

Bill and Hermione worked together on the progressively harder wards until they reached the last set. Bill explained what to do but Harry frowned while Hermione listened intently.

They were tired so Bill and Hermione tried but gave up on breaking Harry's final work, though Bill promised to come back and help them the next evening.

"I don't think that's the best way." Harry said finally.

"Why?" Bill asked.

Harry waved them over to the wards Bill had setup. "If you feel the weave of the wards you can shift how they are linked and either make a hole to set through or isolate a single ward segment to break."

"Show me." Bill requested.

Hermione nodded rapidly.

Harry didn't bother with his wand and his fingers played along the wards and Bill's spells showed a hole lowly being formed until it was big enough for Harry to walk through.

"Like that." Harry said as he stepped back.

"Wow." Bill stared. "I've never seen such control."

"I need to practise the ward monitoring spell, I missed most of that." Hermione protested.

"Keep practising and when you're ready I'll show you again." Harry told her with a smile.

"Thanks."

"How would you break the wards?" Bill asked.

"Like this." Harry turned back to the wards.

Bill watched as Harry simply brought each bunched thread of the warding spell back individually and, with a pulse of magic, broke it easily. Harry shattered the ward's integrity, collapsing them faster than Bill could blink.

"If I ever run into problems breaking wards, I'm calling you for help. No one, and I mean No One, has even been able to breach wards that fast." Bill gasped. "You can be on my curse breaking team any time. I obviously need much more practise weaving wards together. If you figure out how to get around that, let me know."

"Really? Thanks." Harry looked happy at the complement. "I'll think the trick is going to be how you weave the wards."

"I mean it. As a ward breaker you are already one of the best. With some more practise you'll become a top curse breaker yourself and I'll be begging to be on your team. If you can solve that ward integrity issue then you'll be a top warder as well."

"That really was impressive Harry. How did you do it? Is it your Warding Affinity?" Hermione complemented him.

"It must be. I can just feel the wards and sort of see each type that gone into it and how they were put together." Harry explained. "Of course, I don't always know what each type is but I know they're different."

"Have a look at the wards around the house. If you can do the same with them then you will be truly impressive." Bill told him. "I'll work with you on ward recognition later on."

"Just don't mess them up." Hermione teased.

"You still have the cursed items we found your vaults don't you?" Bill asked.

"Yeah." Harry nodded.

"Good. When I have more time, we'll use them to practise Curse Breaking." Bill stretched. "I should go, I've been here much longer than I expected as it is."

"Okay." Harry nodded again. "Whenever you have time."

"Count on it."

"Where are Ginny and Fleur?" Hermione asked suddenly, looking around.

"There they are." Bill spotted the short red head and the taller blonde walking slowly together, arm in arm and chatting cheerfully.

Harry, Bill and Hermione started walking to join them and stopped in shock as they got close enough to see their tattered appearances'.

"What happened to you two?" Bill demanded.

Fleur looked at herself and Ginny, as if surprised by their state.

Fleur shrugged. "Just a little sisterly bonding, nothing to worry about."

"Uh, if you say so." Bill didn't appear to believe them but was unwilling to start an argument. "We should get going though."

"Certainly. How did 'Arry's wards look?"

"With a bit more practise he'll be teaching us." Bill grumbled.

"Then I guess it will be us assisting 'im. Still, I'm sure you 'ave plenty of experience to share though."

"True." Bill relaxed. "Let's get you home, I'm sure you want to freshen up."

"That would be nice." Fleur smiled.

The five walked out of the World Room and into the Entrance Hall. They bid each other goodbye and Bill and Fleur stepped through the floo.

"It's late." Ginny said. "We should get some sleep, I need to clean up first though."

"Yes." Hermione looked her over. "What happened?"

"Don't worry about it." Ginny left.

"I'm wondering if they had a fight." Harry commented quietly.

"If so, they seemed to have sorted out their differences." Hermione replied. "They seemed really close when they finally caught up."

"Just as long as there is nothing for us to worry about."

"I doubt it. There was no animosity between them when they left. The hug Fleur gave her was too warm to be faked and Ginny reciprocated just as strongly.

"Good. We need friends, not enemies."

"They aren't enemies." Hermione assured him.

They turned and headed back upstairs to their bedrooms.

"So, Harry. The next time we ride you, would you prefer us to use a bridle instead of holding your mane?"

"Uhh. What?" Harry was thrown by the change of topic.


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year.

I've had some good feedback, which I always appreciate, some questions and some nice criticism.

I will try to answer all the questions as the story progresses, and I know there are a number of loose ends at the moment which I will address; I'm just trying not to give the story away.

One comment was why there was no opposition to Harry's moves to protect everyone. The simple fact is that they were personal donations to specific causes, completely outside the political arena. There would be opposition if he were to suggest using Ministry or for other people to donate then I would expect there to be a lot of protests. The other half is that the money went to protecting people, try arguing against making the voters safer and see how that goes...

I had another review saying that my writing style changed mid-chapter in Chapter 1 so they stopped enjoying it. I do apologise for the variances but I am still relatively new to writing, even with all the pages I've written, and my style will change. Frequently probably. I hope this won't be too disrupting for readers.

I'm starting to pick up the pace a little. I've introduced a lot of the things I wanted and the days are becoming more routine so I'll be focusing more on specific events that need to be covered. I've still got a lot to get through before the return to Hogwarts though.

Thanks again for reading.

Pheonix Dawn.

**Chapter 19**

Harry woke and, given that he didn't have to get up immediately he relaxed and contemplated the last couple of weeks. It was hectic and totally different to any other summer, but that was a good thing. He had friends and was staying with people who cared about him and were happy he was there.

That wasn't the only change. The whole gender issue was just plain bizarre. He would definitely want to talk to McGonagall about the next Animagus form he was going to try. He wanted to try turning into his male form. Maybe it wouldn't be a permanent return to masculinity but at least knowing it was an option would be reassuring.

Harry rose and stretched before sitting at a small table and writing his letter to McGonagall, hoping she wouldn't be angry at him and would keep this between them. Hedwig flitted to perch on his shoulder while he finished the letter. After some petting, an owl treat and some compliments about how she was the greatest owl in existence, a very happy Hedwig was winging her way north to deliver the letter.

By the time he had showered and eaten breakfast the whole group had assembled and they started the day with some Animagus practice, both practising their own forms and helping Harry extend the duration he could hold his own form. They also enjoyed riding the Unicorn Animagus as Harry practised maintaining his balance while manoeuvring with a rider. He still hadn't managed to include his clothing in his transformations but the girls were always there with a blanket to cover him when needed.

They were happy when Hedwig returned later that morning with a response from their Transfiguration Professor saying that she would be happy to visit and ensure they weren't endangering themselves and provide some assistance. She would try and visit that afternoon. Failing that it would be the following afternoon.

From Animagus training they moved onto Duelling, or rather Defence training. They got Harry to show them some martial arts in case they got too close to their enemies. They moved on to duelling, first Hermione and Padma, then Hannah and a complaining but resigned Tracy. Susan and Luna faced each other next. All the girls appeared to be evenly matched, though Susan and Luna were definitely better than the four girls who went first.

Ginny and Daphne was the real surprise. Daphne had been practising hard to catch up to the DA members and had made good progress. Ginny however had her on the defensive from the first volley of spells and had hit her with a stunner shortly afterwards.

"Okay, how'd you pull that off?" Daphne demanded from her sitting position, Tracy had enervated her and was checking her for injuries before letting her stand.

"Something Fleur suggested when she and my brother visited last evening." Ginny grinned. "She noticed that when we enhance the speed of our spells they lose power. So we practised maintaining the power and speed. It takes more power so you have to pick your timing but, well, you saw the results."

"You are going to share that little trick with us aren't you?" Daphne glared.

"Of course." Ginny never stopped grinning. "Now that I've won."

Daphne growled as she stood. "Nicely done Ginny. Very Slytherin."

"I think I should be insulted by that but considering the source, thank you."

Ginny showed them all how to maintain spell power with speed. She also carefully set up a little challenge for Harry. As their practice of this new skill came to an end they spread out around Harry causing him to eye them warily.

"Umm, what's going on?" Harry stepped back slowly.

"We noticed you hadn't duelled yet." Ginny spoke in a challenging voice.

"So we thought we would... help you practice." Daphne finished.

Harry grinned. "This should be interesting."

"And a good teamwork lesson for us." Susan added as she took her stance.

"Indeed." Harry readied his wand and focused on the group of witches arrayed in front of him. "Well, when you're ready."

Ginny and Daphne began casting almost simultaneously, soon followed by Susan and Luna. Hermione, Tracy, Padma and Hannah kept their distance and worked together to try and keep Harry pinned so that the other four could stun him.

Harry flowed around the constant barrage of spells, being forced to move more than normal as the girl's teamwork improved to the point that he was force to make several diving rolls to avoid their setups as they tried to trap him. As they improved he was forced to shield himself more often rather than dodge as he preferred.

He cast spells back but the pairs defended well and their numbers and teamwork made it hard to make an effective counter attack.

The stream of spells was proving difficult to avoid and still allow him to return fire but he had an advantage. He could sense the spells and their trajectories far better than he expected. Something from his Animagus form he suspected. He had noticed it a little during his duelling the day before but it was more noticeable now. He was glad for it, given the situation he was in.

Growling he focused more and Apparated into the middle of rear group of girls and fired stunners at them using both his wand and off hand to catch them from the unexpected angle before Apparating again between Susan and Luna and repeating his tactic, successfully.

Ginny and Daphne exchanged a quick glance before surrendering.

"Nicely done." Daphne complemented him as she tried to catch her breath.

"Thanks." Harry began waking the others.

"We lost huh?" Susan asked as she regained her bearings.

"Yeah." Ginny replied. "Daphne and I gave up once he took out you and Luna. We knew we wouldn't stand a chance without your help."

"Fair enough." Susan stood and fired off two quick stunners at the Gryffindor and Slytherin before enervating them again.

"What was that for?" Daphne demanded.

"You can suffer being stunned just like the rest of us." Susan replied snippily. "Honestly, just surrendering like that."

"Sorry." The two apologised.

"Thanks for that everyone." Harry said. "It was very challenging, going up against you all. I can see I'll need to up my skills to beat you next time."

"Yes." Tracy glared. "We won't be so easily beaten by you Apparating like that."

"Yeah." Padma grumped. "Such a simple tactic and we fell to it."

"Sorry, but it's better to learn these lessons now rather than later." Harry replied.

The girls agreed and sat with Harry to discuss the duel and learn from their mistakes.

!HPEaSE!

After lunch they headed outside to read in the sun while their meal digested, at least the girls did. Harry had his lesson with the Assessor. As promised he had them sparring. Easily at first, as he demonstrated blocks and counters and pointed out openings and fake openings that could be turned to either's advantage.

As they continued the advice became less and the speed increased until Harry wondered how the older goblin could still move so fast as he struggled to keep up, then the speed increased more and he didn't have time to think at all as he will his body to move faster.

He was trying not to mix his abilities yet. He wanted to learned them individually to prevent himself from being too reliant on one ability. That changed when a slightly mistimed block allowed the flat of The Assessor's training blade to slam painfully into his side.

Harry's power surged unconsciously and The Assessor suddenly found himself on the defensive as the wizard began moving and reacting faster and his strikes were much stronger. He could feel an energy in the air that wasn't present before. Harry's demeanour had changed, hardened and more focused. The Assessor grinned to himself as he forced his aging body to perform the combo's of his youth. He was right, this young wizard truly was Master Warrior.

They battled back and forth for a few minutes before The Assessor pulled an advanced move and ripped the practice sword from Harry's grip and had the blunted blade to his throat a moment later.

"Well done, Harry." The Assessor was breathing heavily. "Very well done. You've been holding back on me."

"I suppose." Harry sank to his knee's as he panted.

"Why? Why are you holding back?"

"Because I want to master each skill before I master them all combined. I won't learn this skill if I use another to beat you."

The Assessor nodded. "Very good. I'm glad to see you are thinking things through. You are progressing quickly. We'll talk this fight through as we cool down and then call it a day. I'll arrange a new challenge for you next week. You seem to progress more under fire than in theory."

"Story of my life." Harry groaned as he stood to begin stretching.

!HPEaSE!

Harry bid the old goblin good-bye and watched him disappear into the flames. He turned and went looking outside for the others and found them lounging around the pool chatting.

"Hi." He greeted them.

"Hi, how did your training go?" Susan replied first.

"Great. He's really good, I'm learning a lot." Harry grinned tiredly. "It's hard work though."

"Why don't you change and join us then." Daphne suggested. "You should take the time to relax."

"Thanks, that's a good idea." Harry turned to return inside.

"You might want a quick shower first too." Tracy called after him.

Harry returned a few minutes later, still slightly damp from his quick shower and in one of the modest bikini's he was now used to wearing.

The girls had left him a deck chair in the middle of their group and as he sat Ginny and Daphne started lathering him in sunscreen and girls all began including him into their friendly conversation.

It wasn't long until Harry felt rested enough to go for a swim but before they hit the pool Emily joined them with a volley ball and introduced them to some water sports. It was a great success. They were laughing the entire time as the ball was thrown between the two teams playfully.

The game dissolved into a free-for-all of laughter and splashing and Emily retired to the poolside to watch her daughter and her friends enjoy the summer sun.

Harry and the girls didn't begin abandoning the pool until they got too tired to continue and the last three gave up and left together to relax in the sun.

It was to this array of scantily clad female bodies the Daniel escorted Professor McGonagall. He left immediately as his presence made most of the girls uncomfortable in their current attire. Professor McGonagall was left speechless for a few moments as her students greeted her cheerfully.

"Good afternoon. I see you all are enjoying your summer." McGonagall managed to reply.

"Best summer ever, even with my changes." Harry sat up. "Please, have a seat."

"Thank you. There are more of you than I expected, including some faces I would never have expected."

"They all have my complete trust." Harry told her intently. "And I would appreciate it if you kept quiet as to the identities of my friends."

"Mister Potter." McGonagall stated with her signature firm stare. "What exactly are you demanding?"

"That you tell no one, and I mean no one, about who is here. That includes Dumbledore."

"Are you insinuating that Albus cannot be trusted?"

"I'm not suggesting, I'm stating that he is more interested in his plans than other people's wellbeing and I can't trust him to keep certain things private."

McGonagall stared Harry in the eye as she judged just how serious he was.

"Harry had to remove some sort of charm from me that stopped me from trying to prevent him from returning to the Dursley's." Hermione added. "One that mysteriously appeared after he visited in the Hospital Wing."

McGonagall switched her gaze to the Gryffindor Prefect.

"Add to that the inconsistencies we noticed when we reviewed Harry's memories." Daphne shuddered before continuing. "You have no idea at the nightmare his life has been. You didn't believe him in first year when he told you someone was trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone and it was a mistake. Don't repeat that mistake here."

Professor McGonagall nodded and sat in thought for a long minute. "You are correct. I made a mistake fifteen years ago when I allowed Albus to leave you with your Aunt and Uncle. I betrayed the trust your parents had in me. I will not do that again. You have my silence Harry."

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall." Harry relaxed into a brilliant smile.

"Call me Aunt Minerva." She replied in a resigned tone. "That's how I introduced myself to you when you were a baby."

"Really?" Harry perked up at that. "You must have lots of stories."

"Indeed. Like how you would chase after me in my Animagus form." Minerva smiled at him.

Everyone laughed at that.

Harry smiled and spoke softly. "I never realised you were so close to my parents."

"Perhaps I have done you a disservice." Minerva looked a little sad. "Albus 'suggested' that we allow him to introduce the topic of your parents to you and wait for you to come to us before talking to you about them."

"I don't know when Dumbledore was planning on having that conversation with me but it hasn't happened yet." Harry stated, trying to control his rising anger.

"I did wonder." Minerva sighed. "I don't know what he's doing any more. I think he's lost his way."

"I think he's lost more than that." Harry growled.

"Perhaps." Minerva agreed. "But that's not why I'm here. Who's training to be an Animagus and how is it going? Your letter mentioned you were having some problems."

"We're all learning and I think there are only three issues for the time being." Hermione answered.

"All of you?" Minerva looked surprised. "I'd never have expected that all of you would have that ability."

"Well, we all do." Harry stated. "Now, the issues; how do you get your clothes to change with you, how do you handle forms with a different number of limbs and how would you handle a gender change?"

Minerva paused to assimilate the questions, more than a little surprised at their odd and advanced nature. "First of all, the clothes issue. Are any of you really that far along to need help with that?"

Harry nodded. "Only me, but I've been struggling with it."

"Impressive." Minerva stared at her young student. "You never showed this level of ability in class."

"Ever since what happened... I've just been doing better, thinking clearer, more focused." Harry paused, struggling for words. "I'm not sure I can explain it any better. It's like... I'm whole, or something."

"What happened to you?" Minerva asked, still staring in astonishment. "Is it just the gender change or something else?"

"Definitely more. I don't think anyone really understood what happened to me all those years ago but it left a dark stain on me. One that has hampered me all this time without me or anyone else even realising it. Now I'm free of it and... and... I just feel so much better."

"I'm glad to hear that Harry. Very glad." Minerva smiled. "Now, your other questions. Gender change?"

"Yeah, when I took the potion to find my Animagus form I also saw myself, my male self. I think that's going to be my way back."

"Unusual, but I'm glad to see you have a method at least." Minerva replied. "I know Albus has Severus working on the potion to try and find a counter but he's indicated that it's going to take months to find any answers."

"At least I'll have something." Harry sighed.

"Indeed." Minerva nodded. "I don't have an answer for you but I will think about it. Your last question was regarding limbs?"

"Yeah. Tracy's form is a snake, though I was wondering about additional limbs as well."

"That is much easier. You merge your limbs into your body. Start by merging your legs together, then your arms into your side." Minerva looked over at the Slytherin. "I'll work with you a little later. I'm guessing you tried forming a tail instead"

"Yes." Tracy admitted.

"An easy mistake to make. Don't worry about it, it's easily fixed."

"Thank you." Tracy replied gratefully.

"You're welcome." Minerva turned back to Harry. "Additional limbs difficult as you are creating something new that you won't be able to control easily until you complete the transformation. Now, would you mind explaining how you are managing to do all this despite the underage magic restriction laws."

"They don't actually apply to us anymore." Harry looked embarrassed. "Though, even if they did, the wards that we had erected here would hide it."

"I did notice that I waited at the front gate without realising why." Minerva nodded. "I'm glad you are staying safe."

"My presence always puts people at risk." Harry fixed her with a firm gaze. "So I'll do what I must to protect them."

Minerva nodded. "I'm very glad to hear it. Now, to help with your problems. I'd like to try you're gender change first. I may not have many ideas but I would prefer to work with you directly on this until we know more and it's safe for you to practise on your own."

"Okay." Harry nodded. "Any suggestions on how I start?"

"I would imagine it's much the same as a normal transformation. Given your familiarity with the target form I suggest you focus really hard on that, including the actual changes to occur and give it a try." Minerva pulled her wand. "I'll keep an eye on you to make sure you don't get into trouble. Well, more trouble anyway."

"Thanks." Harry said dryly as he stood.

Minerva just smiled at him.

Harry focused on remembering his male form. Odd really. He had never really thought about it until he had lost it, at which point there were few times he didn't. The times he noticed the differences the most were usually in the shower when he was up close and personal with his female body.

Emily's Talk was proving useful, as embarrassing as it was. She had covered both male and female anatomy and had highlighted the differences. When he was sure he had everything in mind he tapped into his magic and pushed it into the change.

His practise with his first Animagus form proved useful. He knew how to alter his body and this time the target was both familiar and similar. Because of this it was easy to shift to the body he remembered so well.

It was at this point that he became fully aware of the differences between the male and female body from a clothing point of view. The bikini bottoms were basically the same as men's briefs, as least in his limited opinion, but there were distinct differences, such as room for male genitalia, and they became stretched as it struggled to keep him contained. The top, on the other hand, fell loose as the large breasts it was strapped around were longer there to keep it in place.

The girls began congratulating him in his successful transformation and Hermione stood to hug him firmly but they all froze as they suddenly got a good, if brief, look at his manhood as it fell free of the confines of the bikini. Brief as because soon as Harry felt himself fall out his hands shot to cover it. It didn't stop the girls from becoming aware that he was as well endowed as a man as a woman.

Hermione got over her shock to complete her journey to hug Harry, protecting his modesty with her body as she snagged a towel to wrap around his waist before she released him.

"Welcome back Harry." She told him before giving him a short but firm kiss and stepping away.

Harry froze in shock but Minerva's words brought him back to reality.

"Focus Harry. Try to keep your form while I examine you." Minerva used to professor voice to ensure he responded correctly.

"Yes Professor." He answered automatically.

Minerva gave him a small, proud smile as she passed her wand over his body.

"The transformation looks correct and complete. Well done Harry."

Tracy moved over to join them. "Can I run a few checks too?"

"Certainly." Minerva stepped back.

Tracy waved her wand over Harry as well. "Well, you're definitely all man."

"Good to know." Harry smiled tightly. "Can I change back now? This is getting hard to hold."

"Yes." Minerva answered.

Harry exhaled hugely and released the form. At this point he found that the bikini top didn't automatically adjust to his breasts, rather it was pushed aside to side loosely between them. Harry had sat down before noticing that everyone was staring at him, or rather his chest.

An expletive escaped his lips as he tore the towel from his waist to cover himself.

"Damn it all. First one way, then the other. How many more way can I get humiliated. Should I just strip and have done with it." He snarled angrily.

Harry continued grumbling as he held the towel with one hand and adjusted his bikini top with the other. He couldn't get it sitting properly until Hermione held the towel for him though.

"Well Harry. Clothing difficulties aside, I think you have successfully completed that transformation." Minerva said, trying to get everyone on a safer topic. "You just need to work on your duration."

Harry nodded, head ducked in embarrassment.

"Professor McGonagall, just a couple of questions." Hermione said. "What would happen if Harry transformed into his male form and took his clothes with him and why did his hair go short and return to its normal colour?"

"I would imagine that if he included his clothes when he transformed to male then he would end up naked. I'm not sure what would happen to any additional clothes he put on then though." Minerva replied after a moments pondering. "As for his hair, I would guess that that was how he saw himself when he changed. Hair length for humans is much more variable than for animals so I'm guessing he could vary it and temporary changes made in one form don't carry through to the other."

"Interesting." Hermione nodded as she processed the new information.

"So, Harry, are you up for trying your Animagus transformation with your clothes?" Minerva turned back to her variable gender student.

"Sure, why not. I've been completely embarrassed so far, I might as well keep going." Harry replied sarcastically.

"That's the spirit Harry." Daphne grinned at him.

He glared at the unrepentant Slytherin as he stood and moved to give himself room.

"Hang on a sec." Hermione jumped up and joined him. "I'll just loosen the ties on your bikini, so if you get it wrong you won't damage it."

"Umm. Okay." Harry said hesitantly.

Hermione loosen the four ties that held the bikini to him. "That should hold but I'll have a towel ready just in case. Just don't wiggle too much."

"Thanks. I'll try." Harry looked Minerva, waiting for her instructions.

"The main thing is to focus on including your clothing in your transformation, sounds simple but it's not so easy. You have to understand what you're wearing, though I would imagine that your... 'swimwear' is an asset in that regard."

Harry nodded "That 'understanding of what I'm wearing' is what I was missing. Thank you."

Harry focused, concentrating on the feel of the fabric of the bikini, trying to imprint it in his mind. He had to fight off the momentary distraction of the oddity that he was wearing a bikini, something he tried not to think about.

When he was sure he was ready, the necessary details firmly held in his mind, he transformed into his unicorn form.

"Magnificent." Minerva gasped. "You look beautiful."

She stood and waved her wand over Harry's equine form. "A perfect transformation, Harry. And you included your swimsuit."

Harry nodded his large head and shifted back. "Thanks for your help."

That was as far as he got before the loosened ties of his bikini came free. Hermione was quick in jumping forward with the towel to cover him but not quick enough to stop everyone from seeing his female form completely naked first.

"Damn it." Harry nearly shouted as he gripped the towel, holding it in place. "Is there any point in me wearing anything. I should just walk around naked and submit myself to this humiliation that seems to be constantly inflicted on me."

"If you want to walk around naked that's entirely your choice." Emily surprised him, and everyone else, with her words. "The yard is private enough, thanks to the wards. I would prefer it if you didn't do it while my husband was around though. I don't particularly want him staring at you and I doubt you'd want that either."

Harry stared at the mother of his best and oldest friend before turning and running into the extension.

"Mum!" Hermione protested, glaring at her mother. "That was way too much."

"You should go Hermione." Daphne said softly to the older Gryffindor.

Hermione nodded and, scooping up his fallen bikini, ran after him.

"This hasn't been easy for him, has it?" Minerva asked.

"No." Ginny replied. "He's been coping, but being stuck as a girl has been incredibly hard on him."

"He has made progress though." Daphne added. "I think we're all hoping that having access to his male form again will help him a little, but I guess some wounds are still very tender."

Minerva nodded. "I hope you all can help those wounds heal by the time school starts again. I fear that the coming year will be hard enough on him without his gender issues on top."

"You can count on us Professor." Susan stated. "Whatever happens, he can always count on our support."

"I'm very glad to hear that." Minerva smiled at the Hufflepuff. "As a Professor I'm not supposed to have favourites but Harry is special to me."

"And to us as well." Ginny replied.

"While we have a moment," Tracy interjected, "can you tell me about the Marauders?"

Tracy paled as Minerva fixed the Slytherin girl with a hard glare. "And just why do you want to know about 'them'?"

"Hermione suggested I ask you." Tracy nearly squeaked in fear. "I was just curious."

"You've met the Weasley twins?" Minerva asked rhetorically. "The Marauder were a group of pranksters whom they are trying to emulate, though they're not doing as well as they might like to think. Harry's father was one of them."

"Oh." Tracy pondered the new information. "Being a teacher must be really hard sometimes."

"It has its moments." Minerva relaxed. "They can be entertaining sometimes. The biggest set of trouble makers though, are a different group."

"Who?" Ginny asked.

"Two members are currently inside this house."

"Harry and Hermione?" Ginny gasped. "And Ron too I suppose."

"Yes, they have gotten into more trouble than anyone, and they never caused any of it themselves. It's quite an unusual change." Minerva explained.

"Wow." Ginny whispered.

"We know most of Harry's stories, what about his parents?" Daphne asked.

"Later." Minerva smiled. "I think Harry would like to hear them too."

!HPEaSE!

Hermione had followed Harry to his bedroom and had slowly entered.

"Harry, can I come in, please." She called in a gentle voice.

"Why, want another look?" Harry fired back in a snarky voice.

"I am happy to look at anything you are willing to show me." Hermione slowly entered the room to look at her friend buried in his blankets. "And when I'm ready I'll show you just as much of myself too."

That got Harry's attention as the red hair shot out of the blankets.

"What?" Hermione grinned. "We are getting closer aren't we? I kissed you if you remember. I've been waiting for that for a while."

"You really feel that way about me?" Harry asked.

"Of course. Have you forgotten our talk in the Hospital Wing? And don't suggest that it's the oath affecting me. It's only prompting me to act." Hermione stated.

"Why'd you kiss me?" Harry asked, sitting up.

"Because I wanted to." Hermione smiled. "I was only waiting for you to be male again. I wanted our first kiss to be with you as a man."

"It was nice." Harry admitted. "I was just surprised by it so..." He trailed off.

"I surprised you so you didn't get to enjoy it properly." Hermione's smile shifted to be more seductive. "I'm sorry."

She moved closer until she reached the bed. Leaning forward she climbed onto the bed and crawled on hands and knees towards he man who held her heart. "Would you like to try it again?"

Harry gulped hard at the seductive sight of his best friend practically stalking him. She tossed her head, moving all her hair to fall on one side of her neck. Her tiny bikini and position meant that her movements were causing her breasts sway gently nearly mesmerising him.

"Enjoying the view?" Hermione teased him gently. "I hope you are, I want you to. I want you to look at everything I'm offering you."

She closed the gap to the point where they could feel the other's breath of their face.

"Please shift to you male form." She whispered.

Harry nodded and closed his eyes so he could focus enough to perform the change. Hermione watched as his hair shortened and darkened. She gently pushed the covers off his shoulders and stroked a hand down his chest.

Looks back to his face she smiled. "Kiss me, please."

Harry nodded slightly as Hermione gently pressed her lips to his. She gave a gently sigh of pleasure and lifted a hand to gently cup his face as their lips started moving together. They kissed for a couple of minutes before they had to separate to breath.

"That 's really nice." Hermione smiled happily. "I don't think I'll ever get tired of that."

"Me neither." Harry was breathing heavily. "But what about the others?"

"What about them? They can wait their turn."

"But."

"You're just too nice sometimes Harry." Hermione pouted and sat back.

It was at this point she realised that Harry had shifted back to his female form. She blushed slightly and turned away.

Harry realised what had happened and pull the covers back up to cover his breasts.

"I brought your bikini with me; do you want to put it back on?" Hermione asked.

"Okay." Harry paused. "But is there really any point in hiding from you?"

"Probably not, given how much of you I've see already." Hermione answered. "But it doesn't mean you're comfortable with it, and that's the key. If you're not comfortable then don't. One of the big rules of being a girl."

"I think the big thing is that I'm still not totally comfortable being a girl."

"I know." Hermione retrieved Harry's bikini and handed it to him.

Harry seemed to agonise for a minute before tossing the covers aside and slid, naked, out of the bed.

"Are you sure Harry?" Hermione seemed to be torn between looking and not looking.

"It's like getting a bandage off isn't it? Do it fast so you get over it quicker right?" Harry said.

Hermione faced him and nodded a little. "Maybe, but you still have to trust who you are baring yourself to."

"Well, we have that covered. I trust you as much as I trust anyone, if not more. Even without that oath." Harry said quietly.

Hermione's face lit up and she dove forward to engulf her friend and love interest in a huge hug.

"Thank you Harry. That means so much to me." Hermione slight tears forming in her eyes.

"You're welcome." Harry returned the hug. "Now can I get dressed?"

Hermione blushed slightly as she released her naked friend and help him tie the bikini strings.

"There." Hermione looked him over. "You do look beautiful."

"Thank you." Harry said dryly.

"Yeah I know." Hermione smiled. "You look really handsome as a man as well."

"Thanks." Harry's voice was much more pleasant.

Hermione paused then moved forward and kissed him again. Harry froze as the unexpected show of affection.

"Umm, Hermione?" He asked in shock.

Hermione looked thoughtful then smiled. "It's the same. Whether you're a guy or a girl, it feels the same to kiss you. You lips are slightly softer like this but it still feels the same."

"What does that mean?"

"I think it means that regardless of your gender, you remain exactly the same person. You are Harry Potter. You are more than just the body you're in." Hermione told him.

"Thanks." Harry whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "That really means a lot to me."

Hermione nodded and gave him another gentle kiss. "Ready to go back?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Okay."

Hermione caught his hand in hers and they walked out, grabbing the towel on the way.

"Can I ask you something?" Harry spoke nervously.

"Sure." Hermione looked at him happily.

"What did you mean by the other having to wait their turn?"

"Oh." Hermione blushed a little. "We know we're possibly going to end up sharing you, so we've talked about it and how we'll handle it."

"What have you decided?"

"We'll just take things as they come, moving at our own speeds without pressuring you or each other. We just have to make sure we don't start getting jealous of each other, though you and the oath should help there."

"That's right my desire for you all to get along is influencing you isn't it?"

"So we think." Hermione nodded. "It won't be easy but as long as you remain you then you don't have anything to worry about. This is our problem."

"But?"

"Harry. We are sharing you. To put pressure on you to keep the peace is unreasonable." Hermione stopped him to look him in the eye. "Let us work that part out. You just be your wonderful self. Just take your time getting to know the others. Take it slow. Despite how large your heart is, we know how fragile it is. We just want to help it heal and allow our places in it to grow."

"Thanks." Harry looked at her gratefully.

Hermione smiled at him and hugged him. "Come on. You still need to work with Minerva and Tracy on your snake forms."

Harry nodded and they returned outside to join the others.

They were greeted by the sight of the other girls in partially transformed states.

"This looks interesting." Hermione commented.

"I was assessing their progress." Minerva explained. "I have to say I'm really impressed. I think they're only a weeks away from completing the transformation. The upcoming school year will be most interesting to watch."

Harry's expression changed dramatically, and not for the better. "That's something to think about. What's going to happen? I can't stay in the boy's dorm looking like this and I can't stay in the girls dorm 'cause I'm still a guy at heart. And we'll have to keep Daphne's and Tracy's involvement in our group quiet."

"I think you'll need your own room." Minerva said. "You're right that you can't stay in the dorms with your current situation. Why would you need to keep your friendship with Daphne and Tracy quiet though? I think it's wonderful that you are socialising with people from the other houses."

"That may be true, but how many children of Voldemort's supporters are in Slytherin?" Harry posed the question. "How much danger will they be in there?"

"There are less of them than you would think." Tracy answered. "But they're a very vocal minority and will take be happy to hurt us, especially if they thought it would hurt you. You need to look to the other houses as well, for the other threats."

"I know. I would guess Ravenclaw would come second. I'm not sure whether Hufflepuff or Gryffindor would come third though." Harry said.

"I would've thought you'd say that no Gryffindor would ever join Voldemort." Hannah commented.

"My parents were betrayed to their death by a Gryffindor Death Eater. He was their best friend too." Harry stated.

"That would alter your perspective." Hannah nodded. "Why can't you choose between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor though?"

"Neither house really promotes ideals that match the Death Eater's."

"True."

"Professor, what happens if it's no longer safe for Daphne and Tracy to remain in their dorm's?" Harry asked.

Minerva was about to correct his address of her to a less formal one but recognised that he wasn't addressing his friend but his Deputy Headmistress.

"I don't know. I would normally say that they would be safe and there was no need to worry but that would be foolish of me." Minerva stopped to ponder the problem. "Getting them out of the dorm isn't an issue, if there is sufficient reason behind it. Safety is not one that would be believed easily if people started asking questions"

"I remember from Hogwarts, A History, that there are quarters for married students. They haven't been used in a while since students aren't getting married so young anymore." Hermione said nervously.

The other girls looked at her recognising what she was suggesting and the implications of that secret coming out. Hermione looked at each of the other girls and got a nod from each of them.

Minerva watched the exchange with growing suspicion before rounding on Harry and demanded. "Alright, what did you do this time?"

"Hey, why am I getting blamed? I didn't do anything." Harry protested.

"Your track record is against you." Minerva looked at him with her firm Professor glare that had many students spilling their secrets.

"Honestly. I didn't do anything. Susan, tell her." Harry looked for support.

Susan grumped. "I'm never going to stop being blamed for this am I?"

Minerva looked at the Hufflepuff witch in surprise. "Would someone please tell me what's going on?"

Susan sighed. "I wanted to help Harry and I needed to prove he could trust me completely, so I swore a really powerful oath to him. Then all the others followed suit."

"I suddenly have a really bad feeling about this." Minerva said. "You should know better than to throw magical oaths around."

"Harry needed to trust us." Susan shrugged. "I made the right decision. It's not permanent but I think that may change."

"That you were asking about the married quarters suggests that your oath has had the same effect as a marriage vow." Minerva said thoughtfully. "Why is it not permanent?"

"We only intended it to last until Harry defeated V... V... Voldemort." Susan finally managed to speak the feared wizard's name. "The problem is that the oath will amplify our feelings towards Harry so that when the time comes, we probably won't want to leave him."

"With that I can open a Married Quarter's room for you easily." Minerva told them. "I can keep the information quiet if you wish, assuming your parents already know about this. Even from Albus. Being Deputy Headmistress has its advantages."

"Thank you." Harry said gratefully. "They all know. We discussed it with them within days of learning ourselves. Uncomfortable I can assure you."

"Good, and you're welcome." Minerva smiled. "So, eight wives? I know your mother would be scolding you but your father and godfather would be proud and probably jealous, though if Lily ever found that out she would hex them both every which way imaginable."

Harry laughed.

"Seven wives actually." Luna said. "And one litter sister."

"I apologise." Minerva inclined her head to the young Ravenclaw. "How does the oath handle that situation?"

"It amplifies what we feel. I think of him as a sibling and friend, not as a love interest like the others." Luna's words caused the other girls to blush.

"I can see things are going to be very interesting." Minerva smiled. "Now, Hermione. Your turn."

Hermione nodded and focused on shifting into her Animagus form as much as she could.

"Very good." Minerva looked her over. "You're progressing as well as the others."

"What are we going to do about registering our forms?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"What forms?" Minerva asked. "As under aged students you couldn't possibly be doing magic out of school."

"Thank you." Harry told her sincerely.

"If we all survive the coming war then I will give you all 'special lessons'. You will register then." Minerva told them sternly.

"Yes ma'am." Harry replied grinning.

"Good. Now, Tracy, let's work on getting you past this problem of yours." Minerva focused on the Slytherin girl.

!HPEaSE!

Tracy had made a lot of progress with Minerva's tutorage and was able to continue on her own. Harry had joined them to listen into the conversation to learn for when he started his own snake form.

Tracy had also broached the topic of partial transformations. Minerva had been surprised by the concept but had put some thought into it. Her conclusion was that it would be possible but without the complete transformation the human mind would struggle to control an animal or partially animal body. Tracy had nodded thoughtfully and agreed that any potential benefits would only come after a substantial amount of work.

Harry had also asked Minerva about duelling. She had responded that Professor Flitwick would be better, being a former duelling champion. Harry had said that they would like his input as well. Minerva had nodded and said she would talk to him and arrange a time for them both to visit again and offer their assistance.

Tracy prompted her for stories at that point and so Minerva regaled them, including an extremely delighted Harry, for a while with tales of his parents and their friends antics while at school. She had to leave at that point but had offered her complements on their astounding progress.

The rest of the afternoon had been spent swimming and just having fun.

!HPEaSE!

Padma had returned home and been accosted by her sister as soon as she had entered their bedroom.

"Where have you been all weekend?" Parvati demanded.

"At a friend's house." Padma replied trying to get her arm her free of her twin's grasp.

"You've never stayed over anywhere before and why didn't father get angry about it? You never even said a word."

"There are reasons."

"Which are?"

"Private." Padma finally pulled free. "You are a little too free with gossip to trust."

"You think I'd tell people your secrets? You're my twin." Parvati looked shocked.

"Some things need more trust than a twin's bond." Padma stated firmly.

"What have you gotten involved in?" Parvati gasped, wide eyed.

"You're better off not knowing." Padma replied. "Please, Parv. Please, just drop this."

Parvati stared at her twin sister in shock, unable to form words.

!HPEaSE!

Harry was practicing holding his male form that evening while Hermione and Ginny worked on their Animagus forms. Harry had made his final change of the night when Hermione bid him goodnight and left. Ginny smiled at him and moved closer.

"So, you and Hermione kissed huh?" Ginny asked him. "Was it nice?"

"She told you?" Harry was a little surprised.

"Yes." Ginny smiled. "She said she enjoyed it a lot."

"So did I." Harry admitted.

"Good. Kisses between people who care deeply for each other should be enjoyed." Ginny moved closer.

"Uh, Ginny?"

"May I kiss you too?" Ginny asked as she slowly moved closer.

"Uh." Harry stammered. "What about Hermione?"

"She knows. That's why she left. We don't need an audience for this."

"Ginny." Harry's face flushed. And he retreated a little.

Ginny paused so as not to push him. "I want to kiss you Harry. I want to share with you how I feel about you."

Harry nodded. "What about how I feel?"

"I don't expect you to know that completely." Ginny told him. "You are still too new to these emotions to understand how you feel. Don't rush your feelings. Do you like me?"

"Of course. I like you a lot." Harry looked surprise.

Ginny moved a little closer. "Do you think kissing me would be nice?"

"Yes."

Ginny closed the distance. "Then let it be nice. Enjoy this, please. I want you to enjoy this."

Harry nodded as Ginny touched her lips to his and gently ran her fingers through his short dark hair before wrapping her arms around his neck as the kiss deepened.

Their kiss wasn't one long one but several shorter ones the spanned over several minutes.

"That was... wow." Ginny smiled happily as she pulled back.

"Yeah." Harry replied breathlessly.

Ginny looked him over and noticed that he had shifted back into his female form. "Hermione was right. You don't notice the difference."

"Huh?" Harry blinked in surprise.

"You changed back while we were kissing."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Don't be. Kissing a girl is not something I had planned on when I imagined dating you but you are you, regardless of your body. Hermione said the same thing."

"You talked about this a lot."

"Yeah. This situation is difficult for us but none of it's your fault. Talking helps."

"I'm sorry." Harry looked down sadly.

"Didn't I just tell you it's not your fault?"

"Yeah but."

"But nothing." Ginny scolded him gently. "Just be yourself. Let us worry about that. We won't let you, ourselves or each other get hurt."

"Thanks." Harry said softly. "I was worried about that."

"Don't be." Ginny told him.

She shifted to snuggle up to his side. "I'm not ready to kiss your female form just yet but when you're ready to change again we can continue."

Harry laughed lightly. "That sounds so tempting but I think I'm done for today."

"Pity." Ginny playfully pouted slightly. "Okay. You get some sleep."

She gave him a hug and left.

"So?" Hermione greeted her as she entered their bedroom.

"Just as nice as you said." Ginny sighed as she collapsed on her bed. "We have to do that more."

"I agree." Hermione replied.

!HPEaSE!

Harry found a routine forming in his life. Not any sort of rigid routine but a level of regularity he found reassuring.

His martial arts training continued as normal. Reviewing past lessons and learning new moves. Harry also reviewed the sword training from the previous week. John agreed. He was still a little mystified how his student showed so much promise in all areas other than the sword.

This time things went differently. John was initially sceptical when Harry used the same stance and distance as before but was disabused of the notion when he was forced to jump back suddenly to avoid the blade. He frowned and took his stance again and found Harry to be a much more formidable opponent this time.

"What did you change?" He asked when they had finished sparring.

"The length of the sword." Harry grinned displaying the weapon so he could see it properly.

"Different. How did you reach that conclusion?"

"The only thing I was doing wrong was standing too far away. That distance felt right while closer felt wrong so I adjusted the one thing that could... 'close the gap'." Harry shrugged.

"Interesting decision. It appears to be the correct one. Keep practising. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye Sensei."

Harry headed home to prepare for his training with the Auror's later that morning.

Kingsley showed up with Tonks, Remus and Jones.

"Alright. I've been stuck doing a nightmare of paperwork so I've got a lot of frustration to burn." Kingsley fixed Harry with a dark glare. "And since you were involved in subjecting me to that paper hell, you get to help."

Harry shrugged. "Okay. Shouldn't be too hard."

"You're going to eat those words."

Kingsley was a brilliant Auror and a highly skilled duellist. His emotions didn't affect his performance at all. Harry had improved a lot in the last week though.

The two cast and dodged in fluid motions. With Harry's spells moving at high speed he easily made up for his lack of experience. Kingsley was forced to use Apparation to regain the advantage until Harry raised a ward to block it. Kingsley tried to drop it but it was too strong for anything simple and Harry didn't let up for him to try anything stronger.

"Tonks, Jones." He ordered. "Engage."

The two Auror's watching from the sideline jumped forward with Remus a step behind them and they began casting at the rapidly moving student.

Harry was surprised by the sudden onslaught from the side but rallied and with a quick Apparation was behind them and dropped them both with simultaneous stunners and point blank, one wanded, two wandless. Remus tried to defend but was taken down by a second pair as he was turning to engage Harry.

Another Apparation brought him to behind Kingsley and he began another barrage of spells. Kingsley managed to defend himself and fell back to gain some distance. A dive to the side bought him enough time to add his own Apparation ward to try and restrict Harry's movements but Harry dropped it easily.

Kingsley was forced to bring out every dirty trick he knew to hold his own against the rapidly moving spells his opponent was using. Harry struggled to hold his own against tricks Kingsley was using but he paid attention to them and managed to pull off a few of his own. Using different speed spells he hid a pair of faster moving spell behind a slow one, mixing in some direct high speed spells to keep the Auror pinned in place and batter the shield protecting him.

It worked. The hit of two spells, the first and third, simultaneously immediately behind the second spell that had over taken the first dropped the shield and the stunners that were following laid him out cold.

Harry fell to his knees panting. "Damn, that was hard."

Tracy had already woken Remus, Tonks and Jones and ensured that they hadn't been hurt. Now she focused on Kingsley and found him okay, just some minor cuts and bruises where spells had not been completely blocked or avoided.

Kingsley woke easily enough after Tracy enervated him.

"Well, that was impressive work Harry." He said, sitting up. "You've improved a lot. That trick with getting your spells to move faster was genius and using it with normal speed spells was well thought out."

"Thanks. You put up a hell of a fight." Harry was trying to get his breath back.

"I wasn't holding back at all, I used every trick I knew. I even pulled in reinforcements and you handled it all. You could have done better with more practice but given your age and experience, your progress is astounding." Kingsley studied Harry for a moment. "Don't get cocky though, next time will be different."

"I'm sure it will be, though the result might be the same. Thanks." Harry nodded.

"Tonks, Jones, Lupin, you three can work with the others girls, right?" Kingsley looked at his two subordinates.

"Sure." Tonks replied.

"Good, I think Harry's ready to learn a few advanced tricks so we're going to work one-on-one for the rest of the session. If he picks those up as quick as I think he will, I'll have talk to Moody about real fighting training."

"I have a sudden feeling of dread." Harry groaned.

The Auror's laughed.

"He's the harshest, nastiest, meanest instructor you can imagine but you learn to fight and survive." Kingsley explained. "You may be good at surviving, but he'll turn luck into skill."

"Will he keep certain things private?"

"Yes. This is one aspect of the war he disagrees with Albus on. He'll keep this quiet." Kingsley assured him. "Now, if you've got your breath back, let's get to work."

!HPEaSE!

Hannah had enlisted the two elves to make a picnic basket and Hermione to get some clothes for Harry. She had grabbed a change of clothing for Susan and she was now waiting just outside the Club House in the World Room as her friends finished their run and began their stretching and cool down routine.

When they finished Susan led Harry to join Hannah and Hannah passed them the bikinis she had gotten for them. Harry looked a little surprised but went inside a store room to change. Susan changed after him and the two Hufflepuffs led him deeper into the World Room.

When they reached the river Susan and Harry dunked themselves to wash the sweat of their bodies before they continued, drying as they went. Susan and Hannah chatted with Harry, telling him things about themselves, their lives and their dreams.

Susan and Hannah led Harry into the forest and found a nice clearing where they spread out a blanket. Harry and Susan were pretty dry at this point and pulled on the light singlet's and short skirts that Hannah had collected for them while Hannah spread out the food and poured the drinks.

They spent the meal in easy conversation, laughing at jokes. The meal wound down with them admiring the clearing and the beautiful forest setting they were in.

"You know, a stream and pool here would be just perfect." Hannah rolled over to look around more.

"Could we run a channel from the river here?" Susan suggested. "Put the pool over to that side and then continue the stream to the coast. If the stream is big enough it might be fun to swim it."

"Okay." Harry agreed. "How do we do it? Do we start digging a channel or blasting it or transfiguring it or something."

"Transfiguring would be best." Susan said after some though. "Make a stone lined channel out of the dirt and then make the edges look more natural."

"Can we?" Hannah looked at the two brightly.

"We can start here and see how it goes." Harry shrugged.

"Okay." Susan stood. "Can you make the main hole for the pool and we'll make it look more natural."

"Sure." Harry stood as well. "Stone lined you said?"

"As a start." Hannah joined them.

Harry focused on the indicated area and the girls watched as a large and slightly irregular hole formed and the sides firmed up into stone slabs.

The two Hufflepuffs worked on the rim of the pool to give it a more natural look, large irregular stones bordering the water, and the three filled it with water.

"That looks great." Hannah bounced happily. "It looks inviting and naturally formed. I can't wait to try it."

She turned her words into actions as she kicked of her shoes and shed her outer clothing to reveal her own bikini and jumped straight in.

"This is wonderful." Hannah called out. "Come on in."

Susan grinned at Harry. "Race you."

Harry paused as the other Hufflepuff began shedding her clothing and shoes and jumped in the pool and showered her house mate with water.

"Come on Harry. That wasn't any sort of challenge." Susan called to him.

Harry grinned as he stripped down to his bikini and jumped in after them, giving them both face full's of water.

"I couldn't do that if I waited." He laughed at them.

They shared a look before attacking him and the three dissolved into a free-for-all water fight.

The fight ended in laughter a short while later and they finished off their little project by creating a meandering stream that stretched from the river, through the forest and their clearing and finished at the sandy beached coastline.

They had remained in their bikini's to dry off while they connected the pool to the river. By the time they had returned to the clearing they were dry and donned their clothing before completing the job. Susan and Hannah packed up the picnic while Harry added the finishing touches; a couple of spells to the pool to keep it clean and to ensure the entire pool's contents were circulated and replaced to ensure it all remained fresh.

They followed their stream back to the river and headed for the World Room's exit, enjoying the natural feel of the stream that was the result of their combined handiwork.

!HPEaSE!

The three returned to the sight of the other girls helping to unload a delivery of electronics equipment. They apologised profusely but it was waved away by the others, they deserved their time together without interruption.

Once the delivery trunk had been unloaded and was now vanishing down the street, Dobby and Winky appeared and rapidly moved the items to the extension where Hermione began opening the boxes and looking at the instructions sitting on top.

"So, how do we set this up?" Harry asked looking around at the mess his friend was creating.

"I'm not sure." Hermione answered to everyone's surprise. "What? This is more of a guy's thing. Why don't you know Harry?"

"Like the Dursley's would let me touch their stuff." Harry sneered at the thought of his remaining relatives.

"Yeah, good point." Hermione sighed. "Dad will help when he gets home. He likes messing around with this stuff. He'll be happy to have someone teach it to." Hermione finished with a grin at Harry.

"Neat. Can I read through those manuals? I'd like to have some idea of what's going on before he gets home."

!HPEaSE!

Dan was more than happy to dive into the electronics equipment, teaching Harry how to assemble everything. A 'man's job' he said. He immediately followed that up with the explanation that women could be just as good but fewer had any interest, which was a pity. For all Hermione's interest in learning she had never shown much interest in this stuff.

Harry didn't mind. Having a parental figure that was willing to explain this sort of thing was still a new and pleasurable experience and he enjoying it. The reward came when the power came on and they watched a movie that Hermione and Harry had selected.

The other girls had stuck around to see the results of his work and enjoyed the movie with them, hoping that this would be a regular event. They had all enjoyed the movie they went to see, being able to repeat the experience at home, even to a lesser degree, was pure joy.

!HPEaSE!

Harry was a little slower than normal as he headed both to and from his martial arts lesson. He was pondering Hermione and Ginny. They had worked on their Animagus forms together the previous night again, they working on their forms while he practiced holding his forms. They made sure they took full advantage of his male form by taking turns kissing him.

He had been taken by surprise when Hermione had kissed him in front of Ginny but that was nothing when Ginny kissed him straight afterwards. Harry was shocked. As much as he enjoyed their kisses, and wished he had the confidence to initiate them, he felt like he was doing something wrong. A feeling he expressed and was quickly reassured on. With some heated kisses.

Ginny was happy to kiss a male form and wouldn't stop if he changed back mid kiss but wouldn't initiate a kiss with his female form. Hugging was fine though. Hermione was just as passionate and a little more open. She would still give him occasional light, chaste kisses in his female form.

It was that they were so open to sharing that really had him thinking. He wished he had someone to talk to about this but the only adult figures in his life he could open up to about this were Tonks, Dan and Emily. Tonks would tease him too much, even if she did help. Dan and Emily? Hermione was their daughter. How could he talk about kissing their only daughter and another girl at the same time?

He was going to have to talk to Hermione and Ginny about this but he wasn't sure how to go about it.

Tonks watched her Head of House struggle with his inner turmoil. He was keeping it hidden really well and had thrown himself into his lesson as a distraction but it was there, if you knew what to look for and she was learning to read him.

!HPEaSE!

Harry got some relief when he returned home. The remainder of the furniture and most the exercise equipment were delivered and they helped unload the trucks. Some of it anyway; the weight machines were a little heavy to move without the equipment the delivery men brought. Or magic as the elves whisked everything away after they had left.

While the electronics equipment wouldn't react well to magic, the weight machines were purely mechanical so Winky had no issues setting them up while Dobby finished moving them.

Harry demonstrated the machines to the others, remembering what he had been shown at the store and their advice on how to avoid injury. The other girls tried everything as well, to make sure they understood. Even the short time on each machine had them a little flushed.

"I can see why we needed special clothes for this." Susan commented as she flapped her top to cool herself down a little.

"Yeah, the sports bras will give you a lot more support as well." Hermione said.

"Useful, I assure you." Harry added, stretching.

!HPEaSE!

It took a little planning but they worked the exercise equipment into their routine a few times a week. They tried out their exercise clothes, some in loose clothes others in colourful skin-tight outfits. Particularly the busty Daphne. Harry found those more than a little distracting, which the girls admitted was the point.

Their attempts to distract him never lasted. They recognised the value of the physical training from their duelling practise so they were committed to their workouts. It wasn't long before they were too focused on their exercise to even think about teasing Harry. They focused more of endurance and cardio workouts with some weight training while Harry included much more weight training to supplement his cardio, martial arts and sword training.

It didn't stop them from complaining about it though.

!HPEaSE!

Wednesday's Auror training saw Kingsley managing to return for the second half of the session. Tonks and Hestia focused on teaching new spells during the first half. Kingsley schooled them in the trickier side of duelling, how to use these spells.

He taught them how to build spell combo's that strike at their opponents in ways that would be difficult to defend against. While there were existing combinations, they were known and predictable. They also didn't always play to the strengths of the caster. He said Harry had made a brilliant start during his duel, utilising the variances in spell speed to catch his opponent of guard.

A brilliant start, but only a start. They all had a long way to go with many hours of practise develop and use the combinations of spells seamlessly and fluidly moving from one combo to the next.

!HPEaSE!

That afternoon, Tracy invited Harry to go flying with her. She was skilled on a broom but not in any acrobatic fashion common amongst Quidditch players such as Harry, Ginny and Daphne. What she did enjoy was the freedom and the altitude to look down on everything. She and Harry had a relaxing flight around the World Room, focusing on areas they hadn't spent much time in before.

They floated sedately along the coastline, taking a quick look around the coastal resort before continuing along the coastline, past the stream Harry had made with the two Hufflepuffs earlier that week and then inland over the sand dunes at the far end of the Room.

They spent their time chatting. Tracy admitted that she had had a long talk with Daphne after her outing with him and had even talked to Susan and Hannah about theirs as well. That added to her talks to Hermione and Ginny had left her with a positive opinion of the young wizard who had been the subject of much gossip at Hogwarts. Gossip that did him little justice and had less accuracy.

Getting the opportunity to talk to him in private like this did a lot to abate her fears regarding their complex situation. It was one thing to get excited about getting one-up on Pansy Parkinson but that was no reason to commit herself to him permanently.

It was that he was a truly genuine and nice person. He was far more intelligent than she had given him credit and she was enjoying her conversations with him as he had no problems with her challenging him intellectually. There were few, if any, males in Slytherin who would tolerate such challenges so this was refreshing for her.

He was far from perfect. She knew it and so did he, but again his innate honour and honesty shone through as he didn't try to hide or excuse it. She found herself warming to him even more and her resistance fading.

They stopped to look through the two manor houses at the far end of the World Room but that didn't hold their interest too long. It was the castle walls and towers that caught her enthusiasm. She confessed that they loved stories where a princess was trapped in a dragon guarded tower, awaiting rescue. Even as she grew older these little childish fantasies never completely left her. Living in Hogwarts was a small portion of her fantasy coming true. She swooped up over the cliff-face behind the small mock castle before settling at the top of one of the towers to smile happily.

Harry joined her ginning which caused a small, embarrassed blush to tint her features. A blush that became much stronger after a little teasing.

"A princess in a dragon guarded castle huh? You do remember what one of my Animagus forms is, don't you?"

Tracy stared at him as her face's colour increased. "A dragon. I'd forgotten."

Tracy looked away in embarrassment and spoke softly. "A dragon. But you won't trap me here, you'll protect me from all who want to hurt me, won't you?"

"I'll do my best." Harry replied just as softly. "To protect you and all the others."

Tracy smiled at him sadly. "Yeah. Everyone. You really have a wonderful heart, Harry. I wish I could claim it all for myself but that would hurt all the others and you would never do that. You really are a wonderful person Harry. I really think I could fall in love and be happy with you."

"Even with all my issues and baggage?"

"Yes. I've had a lot of barriers between us but I think they've all just about gone. That day when you destroyed the Room was the beginning. I had to let a lot of them down to help you but you brought the rest down yourself. Just by being you." Tracy told him sincerely.

Harry stared at her in shock. "I don't know what to say."

"I know. You don't have to say anything. You just have to remain you." Tracy closed the gap and gently enfolded him in a hug. "The wonderful, caring person that you are."

They remained like that for several minutes before Tracy regained her composure.

"Come on Harry. You made a hot-pool with Daphne and stream with Susan and Hannah, how about we make our own tower on top of the cliff above the castle?" Tracy pulled back slightly so she could look at him.

"Okay, but I don't have a clue how to do that." Harry replied, looking at her smiling face.

"We'll work it out." Tracy assured him. "Come on. Let's pick a spot. We may only get the platform to sit it on today but we can work on it together."

Harry nodded and the two mounted their brooms and lifted into the air.

!HPEaSE!

Lady Greengrass made her appearance that afternoon to assess their progress in Occlumency. The practise that Harry and the girls had put in over the last week had paid off and Lady Greengrass started them on building their defences. While the girls were working on their new lesson she pulled Harry aside to assess his mind. His mind had healed a lot and was looking to be a massive expanse of lush fields and forests.

Lady Greengrass was impressed by how far he had progresses and his simple defences seemed to work by providing no reference to the locations of his memories but lacked any real bite. She gave him some advice but building defences was a personal thing. Harry had some ideas though.

By layering his defences and recreating his mind's previous state he could create a strong protection that would be dangerous to any intruders. He grinned to himself a little. If he could finish this soon then Snape and Dumbledore would have a real shock the next time they snooped in his mind.

!HPEaSE!

Thursday morning, Harry was training with the staff again. He was half way through his lesson when an unexpected visitor showed up. Kate Anderson arrived, very early for her morning lesson.

"Hello again." Kate seemed a little shy.

"Nice timing." John grinned. "You can spar with Harry."

Kate stretched then pulled her own staff and readied it. "Whenever you're ready."

Harry nodded and took his own stance. They stared each other down for a few seconds before Harry moved forward and swung. Kate blocked easily before having to dodge Harry's sudden follow up strike.

"That was good." Kate retook her stance. "How many lessons on the staff have you had?"

"This is my second." Harry replied.

"Uh. Right." Kate looked a little unsure.

She tried an attack and found Harry blocked and dodged every strike and managed a few counters that had her off balance momentarily.

"How did you get this good? This is only your second week right?" Kate dropped her stance.

"Yeah." Harry shrugged. "I don't know, this just seems to feel right."

"However she's doing this, it's impressive." John agreed. "Now, Kate, that was a very poor showing. I know you can do better than that."

"Okay. If I hurt you, I'm sorry." Kate focused on Harry.

"Don't worry. I'll try not to hurt you too." Harry gave her a small grin.

They retook their stances and began again. Kate' movements were more fluid now as she relaxed and Harry had to work to keep ahead of her. Their staff's clunked against each other rapidly before Kate managed to slip past Harry's guard and struck his ribs. She managed to pull the blow but the impact was still painful.

"Ouch." Harry pulled back to hold his bruised side.

"Sorry." Kate apologised. "What happened to your fancy trick? I thought you would be using it."

Harry grinned evilly. "Well, if you don't mind. I thought it might be unfair but if you're okay with it..."

Kate's expression turned fearful and tried to change her mind but didn't get the chance as Harry swung his staff while still a few meters away from her. There was only the briefest moment's pause before an impact slammed across her body, knocking the wind out of her body and her body to the ground. Her training paid off as she rolled to prevent herself getting hurt further but lay where she stopped to regain her breath.

"That was a hit." She managed to gasp. "I wouldn't want to experience that too often."

"I pulled that too." Harry crouched next to her. "I could have made that more focused and stronger."

"You win." Kate said.

Harry laughed a little and offered her a hand to rise. "Want to try that again? Without my 'fancy trick'."

Kate's relieved expression set both Harry and John laughing loudly.

!HPEaSE!

A letter had arrived from Minerva when Harry got home. She and Professor Flitwick would like to visit that afternoon to provide some duelling lessons. Hedwig was soon on her way with their acceptance of offer and Hermione's floo address.

When they arrived that afternoon they were impressed by the Extension, and more than a little scared of Sally. To learn that this was the creature that had terrorised the school three years ago was enough to elicit very unprofessional responses from both professors; Flitwick had paled, gaping like a fish and Minerva stumbled and nearly fainted.

When they recovered they were shown to the World Room, where they both did respectable impersonation of fish. When they recovered their composure for the second time in as many minutes they walked through the Room a short distance to get some space before stopping to begin the lesson.

Flitwick was a former Duelling Champion and a Charms Master for a reason. His ability to utilise charms to the maximum effect and in unusual ways was awe inspiring. These skills he began imparting on the nine students.

Minerva was a Transfiguration Master and could incorporate her skills in combat with ease, both conjuring objects to block attacks or attack and distract her opponents. This allowed her to engage multiple opponents with greater ease than other duellers.

A lot of the skills they demonstrated were above their student's current level but, given the situation, they were happy to introduce the lessons early. Flitwick finished up by having a practise duel with Harry to show case his talents and give a practical lesson to the Gryffindor 'wizard'. Harry focused hard, he knew this would be a hard fight and mentally ran through a few of the combo's Kingsley had taught him yesterday. Harry launched on the offensive when the starting signal was given, casting a series of simple spells while slipping an Apparation ward in the mix. Flitwick easily flicked the spells aside and cast a few offensive spells to test Harry's defences. They repeated this pattern a couple more times before Flitwick began a serious offensive, utilising his skill and hone speed to overwhelm Harry. It might have worked if Harry had not been waiting for that shift and Apparated away.

Flitwick combined a dodge and spin to find and avoid Harry's counter which was much faster now as Harry revealed his true speed and spell range. Flitwick was on the defensive as he tried to cope with Harry's new revealed abilities. He managed to go on the offensive again only to find Harry had Apparated again and was attacking from a new angle.

Flitwick slipped his own Apparation ward into the mix and launched his real offensive, no longer holding back. He though he had him until Harry vanished again to reappear off to one side and very close. Flitwick's reflexes and speed were tested as he tried to block the spells only to find Harry had vanished again and a full body bind flying at his back.

Flitwick dodged and lowered his wand. "Enough Harry. I'm not at young as I used to be."

"Impressive." Minerva cheered. "Well done Harry."

Flitwick added his complements. "That was very well done Harry. You had sound tactics and implemented them very well. That move would not be permitted in a professional duelling match but for your purposes it's just fine. I thought I had you when I raised my own Apparation ward, how did you drop it? When did you raise you own?"

Harry sat to get his breath back. "I raised mine at the beginning and dropped yours just after you raised it. I'm pretty good with wards and sensed when you cast it."

"A very useful skill. So you held off Apparating again until you could turn it to your advantage."

Harry nodded. "I knew the only way I could beat you was to catch you off guard and to do that I had to surprise you."

"Indeed. I thought you had revealed too much in your initial attack but you were holding back. A good strategy. It was a risky plan but a logical one. You deserve your victory."

"Thank you." Harry beamed. "That means a lot."

"Don't expect me to go easy on you next time." Flitwick told him. "I will not be underestimating you again."

Harry just grinned at him.

!HPEaSE!

A very nervous Padma asked Harry if he wanted to take a walk with her later that afternoon. Harry was happy to agree and they set off along the coastline. They had removed their shoes and were carrying them as they scrunched along the sandy beach.

Padma was a shy and quiet girl. Their conversation was short and sporadic until they hit on a scholarly topic where she became more animated. Feeling more comfortable talking to Harry the conversation turned to more personal topics and she slowly began to open up to the wizard.

Her life growing up with her twin wasn't as bad as he would have expected given her father's attitude to women. Parvati was good company for her when they were younger but as they grew older their personalities diverged and they grew apart a little.

They stopped by the stream he had made with Susan and Hannah and sat on one of the larger rocks with their feet soaking in the water as they talked further. Padma had finally relaxed around Harry and was talking freely. She wasn't one for gossip and made very little small talk so between their bouts of cheerful conversation there were periods of comfortable silence before one of them suggested a new topic or asked another question.

As they sat Padma moved closer so she could lean against him.

"Thank you for making this so easy." Padma said softly.

"You're welcome. This is hard enough without any added pressure." Harry replied.

There was another pause.

"Parvati has been wondering where I keep disappearing off to. She was particularly surprised when I vanished for the weekend and father wasn't angry at me. I think she may follow me here soon, or at least try to."

"If she does, she does." Harry shrugged slightly, mindful of the girl leaning against his shoulder. "It won't be your fault. Just remember that Sally won't let her leave the Entrance Hall without my permission."

Padma laughed a little at that. "She'd be terrified to have to wait there with Sally staring at her. It would serve her right for being nosy. Lavender too if she's with her, which she quite often is."

"That's all we need, the Gryffindor Gossip Queens invading." Harry groaned.

"Yeah." Padma agreed. "Your summer attire would be spread throughout the school, and so would Hermione's and the others."

Harry groaned. "As if there need to be any more rumours about me in that place."

Padma nodded and relaxed against him further.

!HPEaSE!

Kate Anderson was watching an old movie she had recorded with her older sister. Their younger sister was sulking in her bedroom. She couldn't sneak out as the bedroom she had been moved into had no means for her to escape via the window and the layout of the lounge and downstairs meant that her sisters would see if she tried to sneak out either the front or back doors.

They were fast forwarding through some adverts when Ann suddenly shouted for her to stop.

"Huh?" Kate looked over.

"Give me the remote." Ann practically tore it from her hand.

Kate watched in confusion as Ann rewound the video until she reached old clip from a news reel. She let it play forward before pausing it and stepping back a few frames.

"There, him." Ann moved to the T.V to tap the screen. "Does he look familiar to you?"

"Yeah." Kate studied the dark skinned person. "Isn't that that guy from the movie theatre, the one you thought... was a part of Harry's security detail." Kate looked at her sister in shock and disbelief.

"And here he is as a part of the Prime Minister's security detail." Ann finished. "Who the hell is that girl to warrant a security detail that includes that level of protection?"

"That assumes it was Harry they were protecting. I've seen her a couple of times since then and she doesn't have any guards and she did say that one of those guards was a distant cousin." Kate contradicted. "Maybe it was one of the other girls."

"Possible, but my instincts tell me otherwise. There is something odd about her."

"True." Kate agreed. "She has talents I've never seen before."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Hey, didn't our 'dear' little sister know one of the others?"

"Did she?"

"I think so."

"Let's go ask." Ann led the way upstairs.

"What do you two want?" Olivia sneered at them.

"That day at the movies, who was the girl you knew?"

"What? The bushy bookworm? The one with that red-head slut who attacked my friend?"

"Insult my friend like that again and I'll use you for sparring practise." Kate growled.

Olivia backed down; she knew her sister would follow through with that threat. "Her name is Granger, if I remember rightly. Her first name is some weird unpronounceable thing. I think her parents are dentists."

"Interesting." Ann said thoughtfully.

"Why? What possible interest could you have in her?" Olivia asked.

"You don't deserve to know." Kate growled.

!HPEaSE!

"You wanted to see me Father?" Daphne entered her father's study.

"Yes. How is your holiday going?"

"Very well. I'm finding it both productive and very enjoyable."

"I'm glad to hear it." Lord Greengrass smiled at his daughter. "How are Harry's runes studies going?"

"He is doing very well. His warding skills are progressing rapidly and his enchantment skills are improving every day."

"Good. I have the Basilisk Fang knives ready for you to take tomorrow. I would also like you to get take a small sample of basilisk hide and see if Harry can enchant it."

"Of course. Does this mean that you will be starting our Hide Armour soon?"

"Yes. As such I will need to measure your bodies. Actually it would be better if I measure you and you learn how so that you can measure them."

"Why?" Daphne asked.

"Because for these measurements, your clothing will get in the way so you will need to wear as little as possible." Her father explained. "It may be awkward for you and highly inappropriate for me to do the same to them."

Daphne shrugged. "Is now a good time?"

"I suppose." Lord Greengrass was surprised by the lack of concern his daughter had over the situation.

Daphne casually pulled off her clothing to reveal the bikini she was still wearing underneath. "Will this suffice?"

"Uh, yes. What is that you're wearing?"

"A bikini. Muggle swimwear. It's what we have been spending a lot of our time wearing."

Lord Greengrass actually flushed slightly at the thought and pulled his wand and a piece of parchment to focus on his task. He explained and demonstrated a spell that encompassed her body with light before settling on the parchment and transcribing an outline of her body and detailed all her measurements.

"Seems simple enough." Daphne looked the parchment over.

She took a fresh piece of parchment and tried the spell out on her father. The result was satisfactory but included all his clothing.

"I see why you needed us to wear as little as possible." Daphne commented.

"Correct. Now, since I have your measurements and you have learnt the spell, could you get dressed again please. Such attire may be appropriate when in the company of other women and your husband but not here."

Daphne grinned as she dressed again. "Didn't Mother get something similar for herself?"

"Out!" Lord Greengrass ordered, his face turning red with embarrassment.

Daphne left, laughing at her success in breaking her father's composure.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

Well here's another chapter. It's been good to get my mind off the Christchurch Earthquake.

While I've not been directly affected, it's had an impact on the entire country.

My deepest condolences to those who've lost family and friends.

**Chapter 20**

Friday was a bustle of activity. Emily had taken the morning off and been volunteered to help get the last items they needed for their overnight trip in the World Room.

Harry still had his martial arts lesson where he continued his sword form and practicing utilising his energy to move and enhance his attacks. John had even had the idea of a means of using it as a defence, attempting to barrier to block and deflect incoming attacks.

Harry found the idea had a lot of merit but his initial attempts had little success and he was not looking forward to testing it.

The girls had arrived earlier than normal that morning to get things sorted and the Basilisk Fang knives Daphne brought were admired then put away until they needed them. She didn't get the chance to measure them but it could wait.

The preparations for their trip were put on hold when they all attended the Auror training. It was only Tonks and Jones this time and they continued practising their previous lessons on Apparation and Port-keys and working on Auror detection spells.

Both before and after their training they had collecting what they needed and checking lists built by Hermione and Padma.

Daphne had done some simple enchantments on some small packs they had gotten to increase their internal space to hold everything they needed and Susan and Hannah oversaw their packing. Tracy focused on any possible medical needs and Ginny and Luna focused on food. Susan was also occasionally assisting Hermione and Padma to collect all the other things they felt they would need.

Hermione and Emily visited a few camping stores. Hermione had convinced everyone that a mostly muggle style of trip might be beneficial so they could still manage if magic was not an option for them. The rest of the girls were not totally happy but recognised the value of the experience. Daphne still roped Harry into helping her 'prepare' their stuff. Temporary charms on the sleeping bags to ensure their comfort and warmth was a prime example. She and Harry, with Hermione and Padma's help, would work on enchantments that could not be detected later in the summer, once they were up to speed on necessary foundations.

It was the afternoon before they felt they were ready and had double checked everything. Even though this was a simple trip they treated like a real mission. Tonks had stuck around to watch their activities out of curiosity and been impressed by the level of preparation they put in and made a few suggestions to help.

They gathered everything in the Club House in the World Room and went to change into more appropriate clothing. When they had all reassembled they slung their packs onto their shoulders and adjusted the straps, checking each other to ensure they were okay.

"Well, is everyone ready?" Harry asked looking around.

Seeing everyone agree they picked up their brooms and headed to the roof to take to the skies. Harry led the way across the World Room, keeping his speed and his altitude down. Hermione was still nervous on a broom but Tracy kept close to ensure she was okay.

They group set down just outside the castle replica and stowed their brooms in a sleeve Harry and Daphne had attached to the side of their packs for that purpose. Harry led the way through the large gate, across the courtyard and into the inner building carved into the cliff-face.

The girls looked around the large Hall they were led into and followed as Harry headed straight to far corner and opened a door hidden by shadows and the Hall's intricate internal decorations. The shadows deepened as they moved deeper into the large room to join Harry and they were forced to light their wands. Lighting was one problem they had not managed to solve just yet and most muggle torches they could easily find would not last the extended duration of darkness they were about to endure.

Hermione pulled out some paper and measuring tools and began plotting the tunnel with the help of Hannah, Tracy and Padma. Harry, Ginny and Daphne took the lead and carefully advanced deeper into the tunnel while Susan and Luna took the rear. Harry was holding his wand above his head, letting the light carry forward without getting in his eyes.

It took the group an hour to reach the first intersection. With walking, mapping and taking precautions they were progressing much slower then Harry did when he was on his broom.

"I don't know how you managed to come this far on your own." Daphne said as she stared into the darkness. "It's pretty creepy down here."

"It is a little." Harry admitted. "But I grew up in the dark, literally, so it's also a little comforting for me."

Daphne shivered. "That cupboard right?" She asked softly.

"Yeah." Harry replied quietly. "It was my haven and my prison."

"Now are you free and safe." She and Ginny hugged him from either side.

"Yeah." Harry shifted uncomfortably. "Come on, do we start with this side passage?"

Ginny and Daphne released him.

"What do our mappers think?" Daphne looked back at Hermione and Padma.

"Cartographers thank you very much." Hermione replied. "I think you should have a look. Go only as far as the first intersection, if there is one. Let's not get ourselves lost."

"I agree." Padma said. "I'll go with Ginny and Daphne."

"Hang on." Hermione took her pack off and dug in one of the pockets.

She pulled out a ball of string. "I had Dobby mark this at half and one metre intervals. From this point on measurements are going to be important."

"Dobby huh?" Harry asked.

"Oh, shut up." Hermione huffed. "We were all busy and I didn't have time."

Hermione handed the end of the string to Padma and explain what to do then watched as the three girls set off down the side passage. It didn't take long before they were lost into the darkness, the light from Ginny's wand being the only means of locating them.

Hermione watched the string as it unrolled, counting the marks as they passed, and ensuring it both flowed freely and remained taut.

The string paused then shifted a few times before two distinct tugs travelled down the line. Hermione made a note on her map. The string began moving again and the light was seen to disappear to the side and it's glow faded from sight.

"Corner?" Harry asked quietly.

Hermione nodded, focused on her task.

"This is a little boring." Tracy said quietly.

"We'll see if they agree with you when they get back." Harry replied.

The string stopped again and was tugged again. There was a long pause then the string fell slack and they began to see the light appear again and begin growing steadily brighter. The source appeared and the three girls became visible as the hurried back.

"That was a little freaky." Ginny said looking a little jittery.

Padma nodded rapidly. "Being lost in the darkness, especially when we turned the corner and lost sight of you. The corridor ended in a room."

"Ginny and I looked around." Daphne took up the tale. "There is a single main room with six smaller adjoining rooms. There were no other exits."

"So boring then?" Harry asked.

"Boring? No!" Daphne stated glaring.

"Hey, point that glare at Tracy; that was her comment." Harry raised his hands in partial surrender.

"Fine. You can go next time." Daphne pointed her glare at her friend.

Hermione finished winding up the string. "Shall we go and measure those rooms?"

"Yeah, let's do this properly." Harry replied. "Wouldn't a tape measure be better then string? They wind themselves up."

"I know but that corridor was longer than any self-winding tape measure I know of and this string is longer than the longest tape measures I've seen. It's also smaller. I'm sure we can magic up a better replacement when we have time but this was a last minute solution." Hermione explained.

"Okay. That is why we are doing this; to learn these things. Let us know what you need, Daphne and I will work something out." Harry said.

"Good, because I already have a few ideas." Hermione grinned as she pulled her wand and lit it before setting off down the corridor. "Come on, we don't have all day."

It didn't take long to map out the rooms, nor the next few. They were simple side corridor's ending in 'T' junctions that led to either single rooms or simple complexes like the first one they found. Tracy had measured out the next corridor with Susan and Luna. She and Susan had come back quite worked up taken a few minutes to calm down again. Tracy had never commented on being bored again. Luna, on the other hand, had spent the entire time making shadow puppets on the wall of animals they were sure she was making up.

After this the network of corridors became much more complicated. They found a large room, a much larger room than any they had found previously.

"Can I suggest that we set up a camp here?" Hermione suggested. "This seems to be getting close to the main complex. We have room to set up the tent here and it will give us a base camp to work from. AT least until we find better location."

"Sounds good to me." Harry nodded.

The others agreed and Harry un-slung his pack to dig out the tent.

"Thank you." Hermione said sounding relieved.

"Oh?" Hannah looked at the Gryffindor witch. "What aren't you telling us?"

Hermione flushed. "I need a bathroom, and I don't fancy squatting in a dark corridor." She admitted.

There was a long silence.

"That's not a bad idea actually." Susan commented. "I'm after her."

"Then I guess we had better get this tent up quick." Harry said as he unrolled it.

It didn't take long, not with all the willing hands, and a blushing Hermione disappeared inside.

Harry followed her in and caught a glimpse of her disappearing into a side room. It was his first time in the tent so he stopped to look around. It had a single main room with a small bathroom on one side and a small kitchen on the other. The main room would be a little tight for all nine of them to sleep but he figured that they could sleep outside if they had to.

Harry checked the time and figured it was close enough to start dinner. He used the kitchen to wash up and, with Ginny assisting, dug out the food they had brought and began getting it ready. The elves had been a big help and most of the prep work had been done so it didn't take long before he had the meal ready.

The girls accepted that they would be sitting on the floor and eating off their knees, so they had ensured the majority of the main room was clear so they could sit together.

Hermione and Padma mixed their eating with their cartography. Using graph paper they translated their notes and sketches onto the large sheets of graph paper as an actual scale map. The other girls watched them work and complemented them on how the map began growing. They were a little disappointed they hadn't done more but they had a slow start with how long it took to find the start of the main complex. Hannah had questioned Hermione about the entrance corridor and Hermione pointed out the opened ended corridor at the edge of the paper with a small notation about leading to the castle.

"I think after dinner we should try to cover this area here. I think we will be able to get that done tonight without too much trouble." Hermione suggested.

"Isn't that over doing it a little?" Tracy asked.

"I don't know." Hermione replied. "We don't know how big this place is. I'd rather do a little more now than be rushing later."

"Okay, fair enough." Tracy nodded. "Well I'm done here."

!HPEaSE!

It took about as long as Hermione anticipated to complete the section she had suggested and return to their camp site. That, surprisingly, was the only thing she got right. The area was larger than she had anticipated but they worked faster as well.

Harry was moving around the large room with Daphne. She was providing him some light while he set up detection wards both at the entrances to the room and partway down each of the corridors to protect then campsite. Not that they thought they would need it but it would be good practice if they had to do it for real.

"There. Done." Harry smiled proudly at the Slytherin girl.

"Nice Harry. You really are good at wards." Daphne complimented him. "We need to work on your enchantment skills too."

"I'd like that." Harry replied. "Thanks for taking the time to help me with it."

"You don't need to thank me. If you prove as capable as I think you could be then we'll have plenty of work for you." Daphne told him. "Father gave me a piece of basilisk hide for you to practise on. If you can enchant it then we can do some amazing things with our basilisk hide armour."

"I hope so." Harry's good mood waned. "I'm terrified of any of you girls getting hurt."

"I know." Daphne gently hugged him. "It's part of what makes you so special."

She pulled back and looked at him for a minute. "You know. At Hogwarts you always seemed to be in the middle of whatever trouble occurred that year. From a Slytherin point of view it was stupid and 'typically Gryffindor' behaviour. I never understood why you got involved instead of leaving it for the Professors to sort out. It was like you went looking for trouble to boost your fame."

"No..." Harry began.

"Let me finish, please." Daphne stopped him. "That day Malfoy attacked you, I know that you did nothing to provoke it, you were just minding your own business and something else happened to you. I began wondering if that was closer to the truth than the fame seeker you were portrayed as in Slytherin."

Harry tried to speak again but Daphne placed a finger on his lips to stop him. "I now know the truth is different. You never acted with the intent of boosting your fame, only trying to do what you felt was right when no one else would. You never went looking for trouble but couldn't not act when it found you.

"When I saw your memories, when I saw what you've been though and what you've achieved I was reminded of what you told my father about achievements. It would be so easy to write off your actions as those of a reckless, idiotic Gryffindor but that would be wrong. Your actions are those of the next Legendary Wizard. Your name will be listed with Merlin and the Four Founders as one of the true greats."

"I'm not that good." Harry protested.

"Yes you are." Daphne contradicted him. "Yes. You. Are. You're making your own legend. It's because you aren't trying to that makes it great."

Harry flushed but didn't say anything. She wasn't letting him.

"Thank you for letting me be a part of this." Daphne finished by wrapping him in another hug.

When she pulled back her expression had changed to one of nervousness.

"Daphne? Are you okay?" Harry looked a little concerned.

She nodded and blushed a little as she spoke. "Hermione and Ginny told us about kissing you. You as a male."

Harry nodded.

"I was wondering if I could too?"

"Here? Now?" Harry questioned.

"It's not the perfect setting but..." Daphne looked a little shy. "With our talk, it's kind of made this the perfect moment.

"If you don't want to that's fine. No pressure or anything." She finished in a rush.

She bit her lip cutely and ducked her head slightly.

"It's just that I still can't hold it very long. Both Hermione and Ginny kissed me while I was a girl when I changed back in the middle." Harry explained.

"I know." Daphne told him. "It doesn't stop me from wanting to kiss you. Change, please. If you don't want to then don't but I'd like to try, if you don't mind."

Harry nodded and focused to shift to his male form.

Daphne looked at him and ran her fingers through his short dark hair before caressing his cheek lightly.

"You really are handsome." She whispered as she slowly closed the gap.

The kiss began gently at first then slowly began to deepen as the pleasure she felt began filling her. One of her arms slid around his neck to pull him closer while the other kept caressing his cheek before tracing down his neck to rest on his chest.

His soft round chest.

Daphne stumbled as Harry pulled away from her suddenly. He turned so quick his long red hair whipped across her face, stinging her.

Daphne watched the flying red hair as he vanished down the corridor. She suddenly realised the nature of the soft mound she had been fondling. Harry's breast.

"Damn it. Stupid idiot." Daphne cursed herself as she began chasing the wizard.

She was fortunate that the corridor they were in was on they had mapped and the turn Harry took led to a dead-end room otherwise she would never have caught up with him.

Harry was slumped in a corner trying, unsuccessfully, to fight back tears as Daphne approached slowly.

"I'm sorry Daphne." Harry said when he noticed her approach. "I'm really sorry."

Harry was pulling away, Daphne noticed, almost trying to burrow into the wall.

"No Harry. You have no reason to apologise. I'm the one who's sorry." Daphne told him gently. "I'm so incredibly sorry. I ruined our special moment by being doing something stupid. Don't apologise for my mistake."

"I don't know what happened." Harry cried. "I feel..."

"Violated?" Daphne suggested.

Harry looked a little surprised but nodded. "A little."

"That's not surprising. I did violate you. I touched you inappropriately. That is violating you. If you'd done that to me without my permission I would have slapped you or hexed you. Or both. I would deserve it if you were to do that to me."

Harry inhaled sharply in shock. "I would never do that."

"I know. It would hurt you worse than me to do that." Daphne knelt in front of him, ensuring she wasn't too close so he wouldn't feel more uncomfortable. "Still, it doesn't change the fact that I did something very wrong to you."

"Why did it feel so wrong? I don't understand?" Harry asked, his tears slowing.

"Because you're a girl at the moment." Daphne held up a hand to stop his protest. "Your mind is male and so is your heart but your body is female and it seems to cause you to respond that way on occasion."

"Great more problems." Harry grumped.

"I don't think this one is new." Daphne commented. "The way you've been keeping your breasts covered; that's a female reflex. You would never have worried like that when you were a guy."

Harry thought about it. "You're right. It doesn't make this any easier though."

"Yeah, okay. That's true." Daphne sighed. "I'm really sorry. I never meant to upset you."

"It's okay." Harry mumbled. "It's not your fault I'm a girl."

"No, but I am the one who touched you inappropriately."

There was no response to that. Harry buried his face back in his knees and Daphne sat back. She was wracking her brains trying to figure out how to fix this.

"I have an idea." Daphne said suddenly.

"Huh?" Harry lifted his head to look at her.

"Um. Your hand, please?" Daphne asked hesitantly.

"Why?"

"Trust me, please." Daphne nearly pleaded.

Harry hesitantly reached out and Daphne gently caught his hand and held it from behind as she moved closer. Harry watched in shock as she gently drew his hand to her breast and held it there firmly.

"How does that feel?" Daphne asked as her cheeks flushed from the intimate contact.

Harry was right red as he stared at where his hand was located on the busty girl. He managed to nod but couldn't form words due to his shock.

She squeezed his hand so that it had a massaging effect causing her to blush further before she released his hand. Harry pulled it back quickly and stared at his hand.

"How did that feel?" Daphne asked.

"Soft. Really soft." Harry whispered.

"Thank you." Daphne managed to smile a little. "I understand how you feel better now."

Harry looked up at her questioningly.

"I wasn't totally ready for that. Don't you dare start apologising." Daphne stated as she saw Harry's expression change. "It was my choice to do that."

Harry nodded hurriedly, not wanting to make her angry.

"Like I was saying. I wasn't totally ready for that so it did feel uncomfortable. I now have an idea of just what I did to you so I really am truly sorry. That having been said, when I'm ready, I think I'll enjoy having you touch my breasts. I think I'll enjoy it a lot." Daphne finished softly.

"Really?" Harry looked surprised.

"Yes, really. I hope you'll enjoy the same when you're ready."

"I really don't know."

"It's far too soon for you to know." Daphne told him. 'There's no rush either so take all the time you need. I'll wait."

Harry nodded. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Daphne smiled brightly. "Now, are you ready to head back or do you need a little more time?"

"I think I'm okay." Harry stood.

"Good." Daphne stood as well. "Now, which way do we go? I was so busy following you that I didn't keep track."

"That way." Harry pointed. "I can feel the wards I raised."

"That's a useful ability." Daphne fell into step beside the wizard.

Harry nodded and led the way in silence.

When they reached the camp site and entered the tent, Harry hurried past everyone and into the bathroom so they wouldn't see the tearstains on his face.

Hermione, looking up from her book, noticed his stance. Daphne followed him in and it was obvious she had been upset as well.

"What happened?" She asked the Slytherin girl.

"I screwed up. I seriously screwed up." Daphne admitted as she sat.

Hermione looked at her firmly, silently commanding her to explain. She wasn't the only one. All of them were focused on her, waiting for her explanation.

"We were kissing and he changed back into a girl and I accidentally fondled his breast." Daphne gave them the cut down version. "If any of you want to slap me then please do so. I deserve it and Harry is way too nice and vulnerable to do it himself."

"I should." Hermione growled. "But it'd make you feel better so I'll just leave you to suffer. It would upset Harry too."

Daphne nodded. "He ran off and I followed and we talked so we're okay though. I think. We came back together, but in silence."

"Has he forgiven you?"

"I didn't ask. I guessed he'd just say yes and I don't deserve it." Daphne slumped and began berating herself. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

"Yes." Ginny agreed. "Harry is far too fragile for that sort of thing."

"I know." Daphne's eye started tearing. "I didn't even realise what I did until he was disappearing off."

"You are both really lucky you didn't get lost." Tracy commented.

Daphne looked up at her long time friend and saw the disappointment in her features. "I know. I was really worried but Harry could feel his wards and just followed them back."

"That's right. I forgot about that." Hermione nodded. "He did the same thing when he went running after he got here."

"What did you do to try and ..." Ginny stopped as Harry left the bathroom.

"I'm going to do some training." Harry said as he pulled his training blades from the enlarged interior of his pack. "I won't go far."

He disappeared out the door before anyone could say anything.

"He's really hurt isn't he?" Daphne whispered as tears began to fall.

"Yeah." Hermione sighed. "It's not totally your fault. Touching his chest when he's male is totally different to when he's female and the change between the two is pretty unnoticeable if you're distracted or otherwise occupied."

"So I found out." Daphne grimaced.

"What did you do once you caught up to him?" Hermione leant forward and studied the girl intently.

"I didn't get too close. I could see him pulling away from me." Daphne explained her actions to everyone.

"You let him touch you?" Susan asked in shock.

"It seemed the best way to get his perspective." Daphne shrugged. "It was probably about as stupid as my mistake. I learnt a few things though."

"Like?" Tracy prompted.

"Being touched like that if you're not ready for it it's really uncomfortable. But when I am ready, I think I'll really enjoy it." Daphne admitted.

"Oh?" Hermione grinned at her. "You want him to touch you?"

Daphne blushed heavily. "Not yet but, when I'm ready, I think I'll enjoy it. I may even end up... craving it."

"Interesting." Hermione teased her.

"Am I forgiven?" Daphne whispered. "At least by all of you?"

"I think so." Hermione sighed. "You really messed up, but it was a mistake we all could have made in that position."

"I don't think he'd have run from you or Ginny though." Daphne commented.

"I don't know." Hermione admitted. "It could go either way."

Daphne nodded. "There is one more thing. The way Harry reacts sometimes. He has different reactions when he's a guy to when he's a girl."

"You're right." Hermione looked surprised. "There are differences in how he acts. Almost like there's a male and female shell to him, though he remains the same inside."

"But how?" Tracy asked. "Most of those reactions are learnt. We're taught to cover our breasts, it's not instinctive. So how did he learn it?"

"The only thing I can think of is that it's something to do with his transformation." Hermione said after a couple of minutes thought. "A gender change is an unusual side-effect in any situation."

"We need to know more about that potion." Tracy stated.

"We do." Hannah agreed. "That has to be the key. Without that all we can do is guess."

Hermione grimaced. "Not my favourite situation to be in. Harry does better with those massive leaps than I do."

"Really?" Padma looked surprised.

"Yeah. In first year, he's the one who linked Hagrid's dragon to an attempt on the Philosophers Stone and Moaning Myrtle's death with the Chamber of Secrets in our second year. He can make intuitive leaps that would surprise you."

"I should check on him." Ginny stood. "He's been alone for a while. I'll see if he's okay."

Hermione nodded.

!HPEaSE!

Harry was at the far end of the room practising his martial arts and sword forms. He had gotten a little distracted by the corridor in front of him. He had entered it and tried to continue his practise only to find the width and height of the restricted his sword forms. He had more success with the short staff. Knives would work better too and hand-to-hand would work in a pinch. His swords were far too long for such tight confines.

Just outside the corridor in the room was a different matter. Leaving the corridor, he would have to fight in restricted quarters while whoever he was fighting would have full range of movement. Defending the room was a different matter. He could use his blade to its fullest potential while his opponent would be trapped by the sides of the corridor.

He wouldn't want to have to fight down here though. The corridors would restrict his movements making magical duelling difficult as well. He would have to think about this. Maybe the Assessor or his Sensei, John, would have helpful suggestions.

He had continued training when Ginny found him. She sat against the wall nearby and Harry didn't acknowledge her presence as he flowed through the forms. It wasn't until nearly twenty minutes later that he stopped but he still didn't face her.

"How much did she tell you?" He asked finally.

"Everything." Ginny admitted.

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah. She's just really upset about upsetting you."

Harry nodded.

"You're still upset about what she did aren't you?" Ginny asked quietly.

"Yeah." Harry replied just a quietly.

"And you're upset that she's upset about it." Ginny stood. "It's a bad situation all round but no one is really at fault. You know she didn't mean to, don't you?"

"I know. Her hand was there before I turned back. It was just when she squeezed me a little that I realised I'd turned back. It was more than I was ready for."

"It would be too much for any of us." Ginny said. "None of us is ready for such intimacy. Not even Hermione, despite her letting you put sunscreen on her butt."

"She does have a nice butt though." Harry blushed a little in recollection.

"True. I hope mine is as nice." Ginny move round so she was in front of him. "I'll expect you to let me know how mine feels, when I'm ready for you to touch it."

"Ginny." Harry growled playfully.

Ginny laughed lightly. "So, did Daphne's breast feel nice?"

Harry turned bright red and he looked at the hand she had placed on it. "Yeah. It was so soft, but there was a firmness there too."

"I'm a little jealous."

"Huh?" Harry was shocked. "Do you want to feel her breasts too?"

"No!" Ginny exclaimed. "Harry! That is not what I was suggesting at all. I just wish mine were bigger. I hope they will feel as good though."

"I'm sure they'll feel like you." Harry said.

"That has to be the most pathetic response you could have given." Ginny grumbled. "But thank you. It was still rather sweet."

"We should head back." Harry packed his practise weapons away. "I found out something we will need to consider in our future training."

"Okay." Ginny nodded.

They walked back to the tent together and were greeted by everyone inside. Harry could see the concern on their faces and the guilt that marred Daphne's.

"Hi everyone. I just found an aspect of our training we've missed. Fighting in confined spaces." Harry told everyone.

"Of course." Susan smacked hand to her forehead. "Fighting in houses and other buildings. We've only been practicing open areas fighting we've not been using the Room to its full potential."

"Exactly. Though I don't think it's that bad since we're still learning but we'll need to include those aspects into our training." Harry said.

"We will. For now, it's getting late." Hermione said. "We should head to bed."

The girls agreed and set about getting ready. They would sleep outside and began pulling out their sleeping bags and setting them up. Harry managed to move next to Daphne who looked at him in shock at his sudden proximity.

"It's okay Daphne." He told her. "No harm done and I know it wasn't intentional."

"Thanks Harry." She sagged in relief. "Can I hug you?"

"Okay."

Harry was rocked back on his heals as she jumped to hug him as soon as he answered. He hugged her back while the others looked at the two happily, relieved that their mishap was being put behind them.

!HPEaSE!

The morning was chaos.

It started off quietly enough. Harry had woken early as normal and done a few exercises and a little training while he waited for the others to wake. Hermione and Padma had woken next and the three had had breakfast together. The others had joined them as they woke so soon they had all awoken and eaten.

Then the chaos started.

Nine people, eight of whom were girls, and one bathroom. Chaos might not have been a strong enough word.

Harry, by dint of having risen first managed to shower and dress first. He then had a from row seat to the madness of the girls trying to get ready as he tried to sort his hair. They seemed to be running everywhere in various states of dress. Towels, lingerie and other states of undress were common as they fought for bathroom time. More than once, one of the girls had had to dive out of the bathroom to get something and been stuck in a towel, dripping on the floor and banging on the door as another girl had dived in.

Harry was flushed as he finished his hair and fled the tent to give the girls their privacy. It didn't help as they also decided that the additional space would be useful and they spilled out of the tent with their belongings to finish getting ready.

"Oh, stop it Harry." Hermione had scolded lightly at one point. "This covers more than my bikini and you've seen me in my lingerie before."

"Doesn't mean I'm used to it." Harry flushed as he looked away.

Hermione walked over to stand in front of him. "I can walk around in my underwear more if it helps."

Harry turned bright red at the thought. "You do look really pretty in it." He whispered.

"Thank you." Hermione smiled happily. "You can look forward to the next one I show you. I hope you'll like it."

Harry gaped at her retreating back as Hermione walked back to finish dressing and packing.

!HPEaSE!

Hermione's and Padma's plan for the day was to focus on one side of the underground complex, the one towards the cliff face. Their hope was to find any additional entrances to the complex. Once they reached the far end they would work back on the deeper passages until they reached their starting point.

They made good progress. They found a second entrance behind the waterfall and stopped for an early lunch out of the dark confines of the underground. They were very reluctant to return but return they did, it was the only way they could complete their task.

!HPEaSE!

They reached the far end of complex late that afternoon and began working back towards the end they had originally entered. It was Tracy, Susan and Luna that made the discovery. They had headed off down a side passage to map it out while Harry, Ginny and Padma worked on another side passage and had returned minutes earlier. Hermione, Daphne and Hannah were acting as a central point to collect their information and plot the next destination.

"What is it?" Harry asked when he Tracy's downcast expression.

"We found stairs." Tracy grumbled.

"Stairs?" Hermione looked interested. "As in stairs to another exit?"

"No. Stairs to other levels."

"They go in both directions." Luna chirped. "Up and down."

"How big is this place?" Ginny asked.

"Much bigger than we expected." Padma replied. "This is going to take longer than we thought."

"I only have my lesson with the Assessor tomorrow." Harry commented. "We can see what we manage to get done by tomorrow evening and figure things out from there."

"Fair enough." Daphne commented. "You had better come back with some decent lunch and dinner tomorrow though. We hadn't planned on being that long."

"I will. Though we could just call Winky to bring us something." Harry replied.

Daphne opened her mouth to replied and stopped. "You're right. I actually kind of forgot that we're still in Hermione's house."

"That's not difficult, considering the situation." Susan said.

"Yeah, if only I could find the light switch." Hermione added dryly causing everyone to laugh.

!HPEaSE!

They found two more set of stairs; another set similar to the first set close to the far end they had explored the previous evening and a much larger set off a large hall in the central area of the complex.

They had returned to the large hall they had found for the night and set up camp. There was a little banter due to how tired they were but the atmosphere within the tent was relaxed as they lounged around.

Daphne still kept a little distance from Harry. Though Harry felt no anger towards her there were still feelings of discomfort when she got too close. So she stayed back a little, allowing Hermione or Ginny to stay between her and Harry. She kept talking to him and slowly the residual discomfort was fading but there was still healing to be done.

!HPEaSE!

Sunday morning was as chaotic as the previous one and the group set about continuing their task. They agreed to start on the downstairs area since they agreed that there was unlikely to be any lower level. The stairs down had only gone down one level. The stairs up went further, though by differing amounts.

The first set of stairs they found had only gone up a single level, the second small staircase whet up two levels. Looking up into the darkness of the Main Staircase they could make out a third level but given the height of the mountain range they were in it was possible there were additional levels.

They got moving early and started mapping the smaller lower level. Due to their proficiency at mapping and their experience with the environment they had it all finished before they stopped for lunch, including the two small areas below that. One appeared to be a dungeon while the other looked more suitable for storage.

Given the central location of the large hall and the nearby main staircase they decided to keep the tent setup in the hall so they returned there for lunch. It was from here that Harry left his friends temporarily to attend his training lesson with the Assessor.

He had studied the map they had created over lunch to ensure he knew how to find the waterfall exit and the way back so he ran the halls with confidence carrying his training blade.

He left the underground complex and crossed the World Room to the exit. Leaving the room he checked the Duelling Room to see if the Assessor was there and found the old goblin waiting patiently.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." Harry apologised profusely.

"Not to worry Harry." The Assessor reassured him. "We've only just arrived ourselves."

"We?" Harry looked around in surprise.

"I brought you a sparring partner. He's waiting in the Entrance Hall. You need to invite him in or he'll be eaten by your guardian."

"Of course. I'll be right back." Harry dashed back to the end of the corridor and stuck his head into the hall.

"Right this way please." He called out to the goblin that stood next to the fireplace.

The goblin didn't give any response Harry could detect from where he stood as he headed towards him. When he got closer Harry could tell this was a much younger goblin and did not seem anywhere near as pleasant.

The goblin followed in silence as Harry led him to the Duelling Room.

"Excellent. Thank you Harry." The Assessor said as they entered. "Now, since we are going to start off with a spar, you have a few minutes to prepare yourselves."

"Her wand." The new goblin said gruffly. "She must fight without her wand."

The Assessor looked like he was about say something but Harry spoke first.

"Okay. I'll just put it down over here with the Assessor." Harry pulled his wand and set it down.

The goblin spun on his heal and stalked off.

"You didn't need to do that Harry." The Assessor told him. "You have no need to handicap yourself for any opponent."

"It's fine. I can't really hold it any my sword at the same time and using it to will won't help my sword skills any either." Harry replied as he began stretching and ensuring his muscles were warm.

"Well reasoned." The Assessor nodded. "I will trust your decision then. Just do not hold back. He will not be going easy on you."

Harry nodded and hefted his training blade. He looked over at his opponent and calmed himself to focus on the upcoming fight. Studying his opponent he could tell that this goblin had no liking and less respect for humans. He would be on the offensive right from the beginning, no doubt happy for the opportunity to humiliate a human.

"Take your positions." The Assessor called. "Now, this is a training match so the standard rules are to be adhered. I will act as referee. If either of you ignore my instructions then you will be disqualified immediately."

Harry nodded, slightly distracted as he kept his focus on his opponent. The goblin was studying him as well with a slightly contemptuous expression as far as he could read the goblin's face.

"Ready? Begin." The Assessor called.

Harry was immediately on the defensive as the goblin charged to attack him without hesitation. The moves were fast and his strikes were powerful, more so than the Assessor's during their spar a week earlier. The strikes lacked the Assessor's fluidity and precision and there was a hesitation between the strikes allowing Harry to keep pace. He was yet of offer a counter and he could see his opponent growing more confident and arrogant as the fight progressed.

Harry allowed the fight to progress as it was, trying to learn how to read the goblins movements. It wasn't long before he found an opening and shifted his stance to exploit it. The goblin fell back, stumbling slightly at the sudden counter. He showed his skill though as he rapidly adjusted and the fight progressed with the two, surprisingly evenly matched.

The goblin was obviously an experienced warrior and Harry began to struggle to hold his own as his stamina was still not where it should be for this. He felt a little clumsy fighting against the fluid movements of the goblin but he noticed a change as the goblin started getting more aggressive and showed signs of frustration. Harry guessed that the goblin didn't expect the fight to last this long.

Harry knew he would have to end the fight soon before he got too tired but was yet to find any means to striking the goblin. At least, not using the techniques the Assessor had taught him.

Harry used the rebound from a block to spin his round the other way, shifting his grip to his martial arts one and struck at his opponent, swinging down from above using his height advantage. As the goblins blade rose and blocked Harry snapped out a kick. The kick wasn't meant to make contact but it forced the goblin to fall back to avoid the strike allowing Harry to strike again.

The goblin struggled to hold his own against the new style Harry was using and was hampered more by Harry shifting between the two styles at random. The goblin retreated again to regain his balance. Harry used the distance to flick a wandless spell at the goblin to ensure he kept the advantage.

The goblin rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the spell, shocked at the sudden change in attack. The goblin showed his skill though as he managed to stay in the fight but his struggle was obvious. It was difficult for Harry to include spells in his attacks as he hadn't practised combining his skills so the combined effort was lacking its full potential, but he was good at improvising in the heat of the moment.

The Assessor was grinning broadly. The fight progressed beyond his expectations. He knew from experience that Harry would need time to really put himself into the fight, something he was working on correcting. Harry, however, managed to surprise him by adding a completely different style of combat. The addition of wandless magic led him to believe that Harry was holding back far more that he believed possible. This was good. It was why he brought this particular opponent to try and bring out Harry's true abilities.

Harry was now in control of the fight. His martial arts style mixed with his goblin taught style and magic kept him in a position of dominance but he could see the effect it had on the goblin and could tell that he was going to do... 'something' in order to win and it wouldn't be good for Harry.

Harry saw a slight shift it the goblins demeanour and threw himself to the side to avoid the vicious blow that could have been fatal, even using training blades. His energy crackled around him as he rolled to his feet, his blade swinging between him and the goblin violently. The blade missed by three feet but the concussion wave of air crossed the gap and sent the goblin flying. A follow up stunning spell caught the goblin before he hit the ground causing him to hit the ground limply and remain.

Harry retook his stance and held his guard to ensure he was not taken by surprise.

"Winner, Master Warrior Potter." The Assessor announced. "Well done Harry. After I discuss this with this young goblin we will discuss this match in private."

Harry nodded and summoned his wand to wave at the fallen goblin. The goblin woke with a snarl and looked ready to continue until the Assessor snarled at him in Gobbledygook. The goblin threw the blade to the ground in anger and turned to stalk away until the Assessor's voice stopped him.

"This is way you are not ready to be a Master Warrior." The Assessor spoke in a scornfully in English, obviously wanted Harry to hear when was being said. "You think that form is all that matters. Form has nothing to do with being a Master Warrior. A Master Warrior has a quality to survive and succeed where normal warriors fail. That is a quality you lack."

"He cheated. There is no way he could beat me in a fair fight." The goblin snarled back.

"Silence Worm." The Assessor snarled back. "You go too far. You lost even though you attempted to handicap you opponent right from the beginning. This was never a fair fight. You have been training for decades. Master Warrior Potter has only been training for a couple of weeks. He has never had a fair fight in his life but still manages to survive. That is beyond mere luck. It is the ability to improvise, act and improve while fighting. Something Master Warrior Potter has demonstrated during each session, and you have not."

The goblin opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by a look from the old goblin. "You claim he cheated? A true Master Warrior would never utter such words. We know that a cheating opponent is only to be expected. You prove your incompetence every time you open your mouth. Perhaps you should return to the crèche with the younglings until you learn proper manners."

The young goblin looked horrified at the threat.

The Assessor continued his lecture. "The agreement was you would not advance unless you won. You lost so keep your mouth shut and remember your place. There is a reason you have not been advanced or accepted as an apprentice under a Master Warrior. You will think on that and learn the reason why if you want to remain among the warrior ranks. Now leave. Your time here is done."

The goblin kept his mouth shut, though it was obvious it was a struggle. He gave a half hearted bow and stomped off angrily.

"Ignore him Harry." The Assessor said after the door slammed closed.

Harry called for Dobby and asked him to ensure the irate goblin left without trouble before turning to address his mentor.

"While he was a challenging sparring partner I feel there is more to this." Harry stated.

"Indeed. He has been trying to ascend to the rank of Master Warrior for a few years now and been turned down every time. He has always lacked the necessary quality, one you possess in quantity.

"He believes that perfection of form is enough when form is not actually a requirement. You are already well aware what true combat requires, even if it's subconsciously rather than consciously."

"Yes. At least I think so." Harry paused to think. "If I had to put it into words it would be persistence, determination and the ability to improvise but I think those are lacking."

"You are on the right track. Training merely gives you more tools to use in a fight. They do not guarantee victory. Which is why I'm impressed that you know another form. What is it and when did you start learning it?"

"Martial arts. Aikido I think it's called. Actually it's a variant of it. It's a muggle combat form, from Japan I believe, Asia anyway. It's a mix of hand-to-hand forms, sword forms and staff forms. I started learning it earlier this summer."

"It sounds very flexible. Why did you not tell me earlier?" The Assessor queried.

"It never came up." Harry shrugged. "I was planning on telling you when I was ready to start combining everything I had learnt."

"Fair enough." The Assessor nodded. "I am pleased that you are not just relying on my teachings. Seeking other methods of fighting, especially such useful ones, is a good sign. I am pleased with your progress."

"Thanks."

"However..."

"Oh oh."

"I think you should put a little time on to blending your different techniques now. Not much right now but you should start considering how you will begin to blend them.

"You are essentially creating your own personal fighting style so take your time and get it right. This sort of thing takes years to perfect." The aging goblin explained.

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "I understand. Thanks."

"It's what I'm here for. I look forward to seeing the results. Now we need to go over your spar then we'll continue your sword training."

"Can we work on knives instead?"

"If you want. I was planning on it but you've been making so much progress with your sword I've been putting it off."

"I've found a real weakness in the swords. They are useless in tight spaces, so I was looking for an alternative." Harry explained.

"That is very true." The Assessor nodded. "Very well. I will run you through a few drills later. Now, your spar..."

!HPEaSE!

Harry clumsily negotiated around the waterfall, hampered by the pack he was wearing, and re-entered the underground complex and headed for the main hall they had set up camp in. Hermione and Padma were there working on the master copy of the map.

"Hey Harry. How did it go?" Hermione glanced up as he entered the hall.

"Good. The Assessor brought a goblin for me to spar with." Harry replied as he set his pack down. "I won but it really made me understand how much I'm still to learn."

"You've only been training for a couple of weeks." Hermione told him. "You expect far too much from yourself."

"I have to." Harry sighed. "The longer this takes, the more lives at risk."

"We know but you can't hold yourself responsible for you-know-who's actions." Padma entered the conversation. "Right now you have more important things to worry about, like if you brought everything we asked for?"

Harry laughed and handed the pack over and watched as the Ravenclaw girl dig into the pack.

"How's the map going?" Harry asked.

"Pretty good." Hermione held it up for him to look at. "We gotten most of the next level up mapped and Ginny, Daphne and Hannah have started on the level above that. We might just get it done today."

"That's good news. The map looks great." Harry looked it over. "So, where do you want me?"

"With us." Hermione told him. "We've just got a little more to go then we're going to start on the level above Ginny, Daphne and Hannah. It should be pretty small."

Harry nodded. "Whenever you're ready."

!HPEaSE!

It was a very tired group of girls that left the underground complex that night. They had finished the mapping and were very pleased with themselves. With good reason. The complex was much bigger than they had expected. The final entrance to the complex had been on the small sixth level and the long tunnel rose to open in a sheltered cave, high on the snowy mountain slopes.

The elves had dinner prepared for the girls outside the Granger's house in the cooling night air. They had time to shower first and changed into clean clothes. While they had a lot of comforts with them in the tent, the ability to shower and change once their long task was completed felt like a luxury.

There was little conversation as they simply enjoyed the fresh air and cool breeze. After they had eaten they bid each other good-bye before leaving to sleep in their own beds for the night.

!HPEaSE!

"What did you learn?" The Assessor studied the young goblin that had been defeated by Harry.

"I didn't like losing." Kicbold admitted.

"No one does." The Assessor gave him a small, humourless grin. "Why did you lose?"

"I underestimated my opponent. I thought that a human female who had only begun training could never defeat me."

"That human female used to be male but that is irrelevant. Did you not consider that fact that that human holds the rank of Master Warrior?"

"I don't know." Kicbold admitted. "If I did then I discounted it as I felt I deserved that rank more."

"So what did you learn?"

"I'm not ready to hold the rank I desire. I lack something. Something Master Warrior Potter has in large quantities."

"Exactly." The Assessor nodded. "I am pleased that you are not complaining about his use of magic."

"I was going to, but I remembered that Master Warriors have triumphed over Wizards in the past."

"And you took an advantage of him by requesting that he not use his wand."

"Yes. Not that he needed it in the end." Kicbold grunted.

"Why is it you are not ready to advance?" The Assessor prompted.

"I rely on my teaching too much. Master Warrior Potter improvised the entire fight and felt the flow of it much better than I did."

"Exactly. A Master Warrior does not require perfect form as you used to believe. They rely on their instincts and adaptability to adjust to their opponent and discover a method of defeating them. Form is merely one set of options to use in a fight"

"I think I finally understand." Kicbold said.

"Good. You are finally on the path to be a true Master Warrior." The Assessor nodded approvingly.

"Oh, one more thing. Don't tell anyone about your spar or Harry's abilities." The Assessor turned to leave. "He shouldn't be the only one to suffer the surprise of the unknown in his future sparring."

!HPEaSE!

Voldemort finally had enough strength to leave his private quarters. He was still a long way off from being fully recovered, but he could now hide his weakness from his followers.

His abuse of the potions compounded with his losses to Potter, both in the Ministry and the following day when he tried to steal his power, had rendered him unconscious for days. He could barely stand when he finally woke and even now tired easily.

"Master." Wormtail grovelled before him as he entered the Throne Room.

"Report, Wormtail." Voldemort took his seat.

"Potter has been causing lots of problems. He had Fudge removed as Minister and Bones has replaced him. Potter has also provided vast amounts of money to the DMLE to recruit new Auror's and to provide a Fund that allows everyone to get wards to protect them from you."

"He is proving to be a more than an annoyance." Voldemort snarled. "What of Dumbledore?"

"Very little. With the proof of your revival he was re-established to his position in the Wizengamot. His name had not come up in conjunction with any of Potter's activities."

"What else?"

Wormtail cowered. "Many of your marked followers have been arrested. Loyal unmarked followers have reported that they have been stunned and arrested as soon as they show up at certain locations. Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade and the Ministry."

Voldemort really wished he could curse the snivelling coward before him but couldn't spare the strength. Or the follower it appeared at this point.

"Who is left?"

"Bellatrix is the only one remaining here. I believe there may be half a dozen still free and in hiding. There've been a number of Auror raids on safe houses and the houses of other followers and supporters."

"We will have to recruit amongst the younger generation to replenish our numbers." Voldemort stated. "And if Potter has cut off one group of people to torture to inspired fear then we will have to find another.

"Seek out the families of our followers and recruit as many as possible. I must adjust my plans." Voldemort stood sharply and left.

As soon as the door shut behind him he slumped, his strength waning.

'Blast that Potter.' He swore mentally. 'So many plans ruined or set back. I don't have the man-power to free them at the moment now either. With Bones now in charge she will have them sucked dry in days. I will have to re-plan everything. I WILL have revenge on her and Potter, just as soon as I can.'

Voldemort slowly returned to his quarters to rest.

Wormtail breathed a sigh of relief. He really expected to have been cursed repeatedly for being the bearer of such bad news.


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

And here is the latest instalment. Late, but never forgotten.

I had an interesting review that said I was progressing Harry a little too quick; I probably am, but that doesn't mean things are easy for him.

Not sure what else to say really. Enjoy the chapter.

**Chapter 21**

The Monday duelling training went badly, for the Auror's at least. Their new levels of teamwork, and the trick Ginny taught them to get their spell power back up to strength, took the Aurors off guard as they found themselves pinned down and their shields battered to pieces. It was the first time the girls had managed to beat the Aurors.

Kingsley, after a frustrating week stuck behind a desk dealing with Pure-Blood Politics, had a lot of energy and aggravation to burn and Harry was the perfect target. After his loss the previous week he pulled out all the stops, taking advantage of Flitwick's presence as a duelling partner. Harry found himself facing a very difficult pair of opponents. This was the Auror who fought Death Eaters and a true Duelling Master Harry surmised as he spun away from an attack and fired back a pair of spells simultaneously.

This was a much harder fight. Kingsley and Flitwick weren't holding back anything. If he thought Kingsley was fighting dirty last time it had nothing on this duel and Flitwick matched him. Harry was constantly struggling to keep on the offensive and maintain some semblance of control in the ongoing battle.

The girls watched the violent lightshow, spells flying with dangerous accuracy, as the trio continued their violent dance. As much as Harry was struggling, so were his more experienced opponents. They used all of their experience, every spell and every dirty trick to allow them to keep up with the younger, faster and more powerful wizard, who could cast two spells at once. Harry was hampered by his smaller repertoire of spells and his lack of experience but he was a rapid learner. Several times Kingsley and Flitwick were put on the back foot as Harry used one of their own tricks against them.

Harry's stamina had improved and he had a much better grasp of his magic now causing the duel to become a war of attrition as glancing hits began to mount up. Harry only held on due to his opponents lack of experience in working together, though they were adapting quickly. The first to land a solid hit would win. The audience felt their nerves acting up as the air was saturated with magic from the sheer volume of power being used.

A hit to his leg nearly took Harry out of the fight. He managed to roll to his feet and remain standing but the pain was enough to cut into his focus. He knew he had lost any advantage of mobility, he needed a new plan and fast. Kingsley pressed his advantage sensing Harry's predicament and tried to end the fight. Flitwick joined him, sliding to the side to try and out flank Harry.

Harry's sudden shift in tactics took them by surprise. He stopped trying to dodge entirely and raised the strongest shield he could and began weaving a quick ward.

Kingsley and Flitwick began hammering away at Harry's shield with every ounce of power they could muster but while it shuddered, it held firm. Harry's raw magical reserves were beyond both the Auror and former Professional Dueller. They were beyond most wizards. As every spell was repelled, the pair could feel victory slipping away.

It vanished entirely as Harry completed his ward and everything within ten meters of him was hit by a massive amount of stunning energy. Flitwick's and Kingsley's hastily raised shields buckled and collapsed then consciousness was taken from them.

"Fuck me!" Tonks swore.

No one criticised her bad language, they were all thinking the same thing.

"That would be an effective way of ending a real fight, especially if you could protect your allies from it." Hestia said.

"It's a little slow." Harry countered, panting. "Given that Death Eaters would happily throw Killing Curses at me while I was standing there, I would be too vulnerable."

"Perhaps, but I'm sure we can work something out." Hestia replied. "You tend not to face Unforgivables during routine Auror investigations."

"We can figure it out another time. Could one of you ask Winky to get Tracy, my leg is a bit sore."

Susan complied as Ginny and Daphne went to look his wounds over. Luna went to look wake Flitwick while Tonks headed for Kingsley. They managed to enervate them but they were a little groggy.

Tracy appeared at a run and went straight for Harry.

"What were you lot doing?" Tracy said sharply as she looked Harry over. "Honestly. The damage you did to each other. Do the words 'taking it easy' mean nothing to you?"

"Dunno." Harry said tiredly. "Can I get back to you?"

Tracy growled at him as she worked on his leg. "There. Sit down and rest. This is the end of your training for the day. That leg needs you to stay off it so it can heal."

"Yes, Madam Davis." Harry plonked down on the ground.

Kingsley was checked out and cleared with the same instructions and sat next to Harry. "That was a well fought duel, Harry. You're really coming along."

Flitwick joined them. "Indeed. That was well done. Congratulations on your victory."

"I noticed you were fighting particularly dirtily." Harry commented.

"We stayed within formal tournament rules." Flitwick grinned.

"Rough week. I'll take field work to desk work any day." Kingsley grumped.

"So you took it out on me?"

"It was your fault. If you hadn't gotten Fudge fired and Madam Bones to replace him I wouldn't be suck dealing with those stuck-up, arrogant, pain-in-the-arses."

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that." Harry didn't sound the least bit sorry.

"I'm sure." Kingsley grunted. "So, how do you think you did?"

"Good. You changed your style a lot and used a lot of spells and tricks I hadn't encountered before. I managed to keep up and beat you anyway so that's good. And beating to two of you at once..."

"It is, and you've only been doing this for a few weeks. You are going to be an amazing dueller when you reach your peak."

"Good enough to beat Voldemort?" Harry asked.

"I think so, but we won't know you until you face him again. What else?"

"I'm learning to utilise my full power properly now and my stamina is improving daily."

"Yes. I'm truly impressed with your progress. I might need to bring Moody with me soon."

"As long as he swears to keep this quiet then that's fine."

"He will." Kingsley assured him as he flopped back to recover. "He knows when total discretion is required. Now, I need to rest."

"Hear hear." Flitwick nodded tiredly.

"Okay, with Healer Tracy's permission I'll join the others outside and rest my leg." Harry grinned at the witch.

"Go straight there Harry." Tracy ordered him. "I'll bring you a change and we'll clean you up out there."

Harry nodded and, with help from Ginny and Daphne, stood and slowly limped out.

"Well, you've seen what we want you to aspire to." Hestia took control over the session while her superior rested. "Now get back to work, you're a long way off that level."

There were four groans and one chuckle as Tracy left her friends to their fate.

!HPEaSE!

Emily opened the front door on the nice Tuesday morning and, seeing who was at the gate, hurried down the path to open it and let them in.

"Mum, Dad, Grandma, Granddad." She hugged them in turn. "It's good to see you all. Please come in."

"It's good to see you too, Emily." Philip Smith, her father, returned her greeting with the others. "Is there a need for a locked gate?"

He was still a burly man, his years of military discipline still intact, keeping his body in top physical condition even though he was in his fifth decade.

"Yes. I'll explain later." Emily avoided the topic.

"Are you sure it's okay that we are all here at once?" Jane Smith, her mother asked.  
"You only have one guest room."

"We had an extension built which Hermione moved into so her old room is free." Emily explained as she helped them carry everything inside.

"That would be nice to see." Kevin Smith, her grandfather, said.

"You will be impressed." Emily replied feeling a little uncertain.

"What's wrong dear?" Jane asked.

"I never could hide anything from you could I?" Emily grimaced. "Let's go in the lounge. This is pretty big."

Everyone was sitting and had declined multiple offers of food and drink. Emily was showing signs of nervousness as she tried to figure out how to broach the very topic she had brought them here for.

"Come on dear." Jane prompted. "Whatever it is, you can tell us. You are our child."

"I know. It's not me though, it's Hermione. You know how she's always been different?"

"Yes." Diane Smith, her grandmother, answered. "A special girl she is."

"Very." Emily stated. "A few years ago the reason why she was different was explained to us. She has been attending a special school for such children ever since."

"That boarding school in Scotland." Philip commented. "The one you have managed to avoid telling us the name of for five years."

"Yes. Its name is 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'." Emily closed her eyes, fearful of the outburst to come.

"What are you saying?" Jane demanded. "Is Hermione some sort of witch?"

"It's not quite like that." Emily tried to reassure them. "Witch and Wizard are just the terms for female and male people with magical ability. The school was established about a thousand years ago to teach children how to use and control their magical abilities."

"So you are saying the magic is real?" Philip looked sceptical.

"Yes it is. So are magical creatures and a wide variety of other things."

"Magical creatures?" Jane asked.

Emily nodded. "Winky?"

Winky appeared. "Yous called for WInky?"

The four elder couples stared at the house elf's sudden appearance.

"These are my parents and grandparents." Emily indicated the others in the room.

Winky bowed low to them. "It's a pleasure to meet the family of Lady Hermione."

There were a lot of stares as they struggled to comprehend the sight of the obviously non-human person in front of them. Winky started to get nervous at being stared at and shifted uncomfortably.

Emily noticed and rescued the elf. "Winky, can you take their things up to the guest room and Hermione's old room please."

"At once." Winky bowed quickly to Emily and vanished.

"What was that?" Philip asked.

"That was a House Elf." Emily explained. "They are a servant race in the Wizarding World. A World that exists in parallel to ours, but hidden from us. They actually get pleasure from working so while they can appear to be slaves; they actually have a symbiotic relationship with magical families."

"Interesting." Philip managed as he tried to process what he had just seen. "Does the Government know about this?"

"The Wizarding World has its own Government but they do have links to the non magical Government."

"This is a lot to take in."

"And that's only the beginning." Emily said sadly. "There is a lot you need to know and a lot of it isn't pleasant."

"That doesn't sound good." Kevin looked at his granddaughter intently.

"It isn't, I assure you." Emily replied. "I'll go get Hermione and her friends. They can explain things a lot better than me."

Emily rose and left, heading outside to find her daughter and her friends.

She scrunched down the gravel path to the private courtyard hidden within the tall hedges.

"Hi Mum. Are they here?" Hermione greeted her as she emerged between the hedges.

"Yes. It's time, you need to come and explain things to them." Emily said seriously.

Hermione nodded and pulled a light summer dress over her tiny bikini. The others followed suit and the group trudged back into the house to greet Hermione's grand and great-grand parents.

Seeing them through the ranch-slider door, Hermione ran ahead to engulf them in hugs as she greeted them happily. The other waited just outside to let them finished their greetings.

Hermione noticed that the greeting were not a warm as normal and stood back to look them over.

"So, Mum told you that I have magical powers." Hermione stated. "If you have a problem with it then get it out now. This is the only chance I'm going to give you."

"You know what religions say about witchcraft." Jane said.

"Yes I do and it's a load of crap. Magic is just another ability. It's not in any way evil." Hermione fired back.

"So there is no such thing as an evil witch?" Philip queried.

"Yes there is," Hermione admitted, "but it isn't magic that makes them evil. It's just the same as a doctor using his medical knowledge to hurt people instead of helping people."

Philip pondered her point. "I can accept that, in theory. Can you provide proof?"

"Yes." Hermione answered. "There are spells that require huge amounts of positive emotional energy to work and magical creatures that are the embodiment of purity and light."

"Such as?"

"Unicorns. Phoenixes."

"What about evil spells and creatures?" Kevin asked.

Hermione slumped. "They exist too. Dementor's that feed on emotions and souls and spells that do horrific damage to the victim. But if you think that I would hurt an innocent person... Magic doesn't make a person evil, just like a gun doesn't. I'm sure that soldiers aren't evil even though they kill people."

"I can understand that. Soldier's are in a very difficult position. Killing is always bad, but sometimes necessary." Philip sighed. "Why do I have the feeling that the topic of killing is relevant to why we are here."

"Because it is." Hermione admitted. "The Magical World is hidden and exists next to the non magical one. It is trapped in the past in a lot of ways and never developed the checks against the abuse of power that the non magical government's developed. As such, there is a lot of corruption. Not everyone is like that but too many are."

"This doesn't sound good." Philip looked serious.

"It's far worse." Hermione admitted. "The Wizarding World is on the brink of civil war as a terrorist is trying to take over. He is a true evil wizard. We're caught in the middle of it."

"Why can't the Government stop him?"

"Because they were run by an incompetent fool who was easily bought." Susan entered the conversation. "It's only been days since he was removed from power and the necessary changes to remove that corruption began."

"Are you are?" Philip looked over at the group of girls standing just outside.

"I am Susan Bones. My Aunt is the former Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and is now the current Minister of Magic." Susan drew herself up proudly.

"Nice to meet you." Jane replied. "You must be one of Hermione's friends from school."

Susan nodded. "We all are."

"We should take this to a larger room." Harry suggested.

"And you are?" Jane turned her attention to the emerald-eyed red head.

"Harry Potter."

"Harry?" Philip queried in surprise. "Short for?"

"Nope. Just Harry, victim of some obscure magic." Harry concentrated and shifted back to his male form. "Please follow me."

Hermione's grand and great-grand parents followed the now male spell-caster in shocked silence.

Harry led the group into the Entrance Hall. "Sally, these are Hermione's grandparents and great-grandparents. They have full access."

The afore mentioned people looked around in confusion trying to find 'Sally'.

'Sally' made her presence known as she quietly slithered out of the shadows to inspect the visitors.

"What the hell is that?" Philip pulled his wife behind himself and looked between the skeletal snake and the wizard that seemed to be able to control it. "What evil are you doing here?"

"Huh?" Harry looked confused.

"Umm, Harry." Hermione spoke up. "Sally is a giant skeletal snake. They probably think she's some sort of evil undead."

"Oh, yeah, right. Good point." Harry looked embarrassed. "Yes, that is a snake skeleton, or basilisk skeleton if you want to be pedantic, but it's not done using any sort of evil magic. It's animated the same way a golem or statue would be animated, not the way you'd animate a corpse."

"So where it you get it?" Philip still hadn't relaxed.

"I killed it three years ago."

"By yourself?"

"I had a Phoenix help me by blinding it but yeah."

"That's pretty impressive."

"You should see his memories of it." Hermione said.

"See his memories?" Philip asked in surprise.

"By using a Pensive. We can copy our memories into it and others can experience them fully. It's also good for reviewing something to see things you only picked up subconsciously." Daphne answered. "As muggles you can't enter the memories directly but we can project them so you can still watch them."

"Muggles?" Diane asked.

"What magical people call non-magical people."

"I'm not sure that it's very flattering."

Daphne opened her mouth to answer but stopped herself to think. "You may be right. I'll try not to use it but I may slip from time to time so I apologise in advance."

"Thank you. I'm Diane Smith by the way. And you are?"

"Daphne Greengrass. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Are there any other shocks for us?" Philip still looked at Sally warily.

"Lots." Hermione grinned. "Come on."

She led them out into the World Room and watched as the four visitors stared around the massive room in surprise.

"You should sit." Hermione told them. "There is a lot to get through."

After introductions Harry sighed and began explaining the situation, starting with the first war and then events since he had re-entered the Wizarding World.

"I still don't quite understand why children need to be so involved." Jane said looking worried.

"We're involved, whether or not we want to be. Voldemort and his Death Eaters will happily torture and kill any who oppose him regardless of age. We have to be ready to defend ourselves." Harry explained. "And given how single minded he is about killing me then..."

"You're being hunted." Philip nodded in understanding. "Why shouldn't we just request that Hermione leave the country with us?"

"For the same reason you and your father joined the army. To protect the innocent." Hermione stated firmly. "I may be younger than you both were but the situation is just as dire. These are people who will think nothing of attacking innocent families, and have done so for sport in the past.

"Besides, it's too late to escape. I'm a target regardless of whether or not I oppose them. I'll stand a much better chance staying with Harry and learning to fight rather than running."

"She's good at arguing isn't she?" Emily looked proud of her daughter but a little sad. "She's all grown up and trying to save the world."

"I had the same attitude when I signed up." Kevin remembered his own youth. "That changed pretty quick."

"When you first went into combat?" Hermione asked.

Kevin nodded. "You could never understand what it was like for us to battle our way through Europe. The things I saw... I still have the occasional nightmare."

"I know." Hermione replied. "I've already been through my first life or death battle and nearly died. I've nearly died three other times in the last five years. Only one of those could have been avoided by not knowing Harry. Harry personally saved me on two of those occasions and being Harry's friend helped me turn the third into a survivable situation."

Hermione's relatives looked stricken. The shock of nearly losing the youngest member of their family bit deeply into them.

"Why are you telling us now?" Philip asked quietly. "This has been going on for years, why now?"

"Because now is when we are getting serious about fighting back." Hermione answered. "We now know we can't leave it up to other people. We're hoping you can provide a different perspective to our training. We were also hoping that you knew someone trustworthy from the SAS."

Philip looked down and sighed. "I served in the SAS."

"You WHAT?" Emily shouted as she stared at her father. "You served in the SAS and you kept it hidden from me. How could you?."

"I didn't want to worry you. It was bad enough that your mother was scared to death every time I went on assignment, I couldn't do that to you too."

"Well, you can make it up to me by training Hermione, Harry and the others to make sure they survive this too." Emily glared at him.

Philip nodded. "I would prefer that they stayed put of it but if that can't be avoided then I will train them. I don't want to lose my only granddaughter.

"Thanks." Hermione nearly dove over to hug him.

Philip retuned the hug strongly. "Okay. I'll help, but it will be rough."

"Do your worst." Hermione pulled back to grin.

"What have you learnt so far?"

"Want a demonstration?"

"Please."

Hermione looked over at the others and they all nodded and stood to begin their practise duel.

They surrounded Harry and with a look at each other started with a near simultaneous assault on the wizard.

Harry knew their teamwork had improved a huge amount and he wouldn't be able to take it easy. The girls hesitated slightly as they felt Harry's sudden release of energy as he tapped into his powers and began moving at an increased pace as he flowed around the incoming spells and returned fire.

The girls utilised their teamwork to protect each other while still keeping up the attack and Harry had to work to make head way. He used both his Apparation and his martial arts trained movement to move around the field of combat to try and regain his advantage.

It took some effort but he managed to succeed and soon had all the girls stunned. He had to stop to catch his breath before waking them; they had really made him work for his victory.

"Well, I think we did much better that time." Daphne commented as she got up.

"That wasn't bad at all. You team work was good and your reactions and improvisation were better than I expected." Philip complemented them. "You would make respectable short to mid range combatants."

"Thanks." Hermione smiled happily.

"What are you doing for long range combat and hand-to-hand combat?"

"Harry is training in Swordsmanship and martial arts and is teaching us a little. We are getting some knives made so I imagine that those would be our primary hand-to-hand weapon." Hermione explained. "We are working on our long range accuracy too."

"That's good but your spells are too slow to be useful at long range; too easy to dodge." Philip countered. "How would your magic shields hold up to bullets?"

"I have no idea." Hermione admitted. "I don't think anyone has ever tried to find out."

"My understanding of shields is that they'll stop most forms of physical attack." Susan added.

"But they can be overwhelmed." Philip recalled the duel they had just witnessed.

"So heavier calibre weaponry?" Kevin suggested.

"Yes. Possibly incendiary round too." Philip agreed. "I would like to see how well a shield holds up to normal rounds on automatic fire as well."

"I'm happy to help." Harry looked interested. "But you'll have to get the guns and ammunition. I don't think I can help you there."

"That's fine. I can help you with your knife fighting too. What sort of knives were you thinking of using?"

"Basilisk Fang." Harry stated. "They still retain their poison too so they will be effective against a wide variety of magical creatures."

"Nasty. And very illegal, not that I'm really in a position to criticise. Just don't use it on someone unless you really have to. How effective is it?"

"Death in seconds. I can personally vouch for its effectiveness." Harry grimaced at the memory.

"How did you survive?" Jane was nearly whispering in shock.

"The Phoenix that helped me, Fawkes. Their tears hold powerful healing properties."

Philip nodded. "You said we could look at your memories?"

"I'll show you to the Pensive. You might want to keep your wives away from them though."

Philip looked at little surprised and the look only increased when that comment from the gender shifting wizard was agreed on by everyone else present.

"Okay. Dad and I will look through them first." Philip said.

Harry nodded and stood. He silently led them to the Lounge and had Dobby bring the Pensive. They the two non-magical men watching the projection, a three dimensional image floating above the basin.

Harry left them too it, he still had no interest in revisiting those memories.

Hermione had disappeared with her grandmother and great-grandmother to catch up with them and show them around the extension. The others returned outside to continue their studies.

Hours later, two very subdued men emerged from the Lounge to find the rest of their family. Hermione found herself hugged firmly by both men.

"Are you alright?" Kevin asked.

Hermione nodded. "I'm fine."

"What are we missing?" Jane asked.

"They saw the fight I was in with some Death Eaters a few weeks ago and was badly injured." Hermione confessed.

Jane and Diane's eyes brimmed with tears as they too buried the young girl in their combined hugs.

"So, that snaked faced bastard is the primary target." Philip stated. "From what I saw he won't go down easily but he's very arrogant. We can use that."

Hermione nodded. "We can but Harry is probably the only one of us who can penetrate his shields. Voldemort is very powerful and I imagine he's done a number of rituals to boost his power."

"So he's a tank while everyone else only has hand guns." Philip gave a military analogy.

"And Harry has the only anti-tank weapon." Kevin agreed.

"I don't understand how this can fall to a child though." Jane looked at Hermione for an answer.

"They pretty well got it right." Hermione said sadly. "Some people just have that much more power and Harry is one of them. I think magic can make the heroes and villains just that much larger. Take Merlin for example. Centuries later and he's still a legend, even in the non-magical world. The Four Founders of Hogwarts are the same. There are few who reach their level of ability but I think Harry will be one of them."

"So he is the only one with the power to defeat him." Philip said.

"Yeah." Hermione slumped. "There's even a prophesy saying the same thing. I don't normally think much of Divination as a subject but I have to admit this might be valid."

"Can this get any crazier?"

"With magic, and Harry, involved, definitely." Hermione replied.

"Great." Philip's voice was heavy with sarcasm. "Do you have any other tricks up your sleeves that might help?"

"Our Animagus forms, that's the ability to shift into a single animal form though Harry has several, and Harry also has a few tricks he didn't show in our duel. Daphne is very good an enchanting things and Harry and I can help. Hannah and Tracy are good with potions, something else I can help with. Ginny has twin brothers who have a business inventing pranks but I think they could help make things that are a little more dangerous if we ask."

"You can turn into an animal?" Jane asked. "What sort?"

"A cat. Ginny, Daphne and Padma have great cats. Hannah and Susan are dogs, Tracy is a snake and Luna is a bird. Harry has a Unicorn form, his male form all of our forms and his parents and godfathers forms. And a dragon."

"That sounds a lot." Diane commented.

"It is. He's always been told that his mother sacrificing herself to have him left a strong protection on him. I think that's how he got their forms since they all gave their lives trying to keep him safe." Hermione looked sad.

"He's had a tragic life." Kevin remembered the memories he and his son had watched.

"Very."

"How does he have yours and the other girls forms?" Philip asked.

Hermione froze. "Umm. Do I have to answer that?"

"I think you do. You obviously haven't died trying to save him so something else must have happened."

"Yes. You're going to get angry and that's okay but not at Harry. He's done nothing wrong. You also have to understand that magic works differently. It's why normal laws don't always work with magical people." Hermione tried to stare her grandparents down

"Explain."

"I'm trying to." Hermione paused to find an example. "If you swear on your life to do something and don't, there are no real consequences are there. You might upset some people and people will trust you less but that's about it."

"I suppose, though it depends on the situation." Philip replied noncommittally.

"If I was to swear the same thing and my magic got behind it then if I broke my oath my own magic would fulfil the oath and kill me." Hermione looked around at the four horrified expressions. "Magic can be wonderful, but it can be very dangerous as well."

"That is becoming clearer. Have you made such an oath?" Philip looked worried at the thought of losing his granddaughter.

"Not that sort, but the other girls and I swore an oath to Harry to help and support him in his mission to default Voldemort."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"The strength of the oath has had an unexpected consequence though."

"What sort?" Jane asked warily.

"We're all effectively married to him." Hermione's voice dropped to a worried near whisper.

There was a long silence.

Philip was the one to break the silence. "So Harry has eight wives, including you."

"Luna and Harry have a sibling relationship so it's only seven wives," Hermione said hurriedly, "but yes I'm one of them."

"Do your parents know about this?" Diane looked at her sternly.

Hermione nodded. "They were there when we found out. It was quite a shock for all of us. Harry was all set to try and release us there and then but we told him to wait until his task was complete."

"Why?" Jane looked surprised. "Why wait when it could be resolved sooner?"

"Because Harry needs our help and the bond created by the oath allows us to transfer our magical energy to him. It could also allow our thoughts and emotions to be sent in the future. If one of us is captured then it could be the key we need to find and rescue them fast before they are tortured too much."

"Useful, but you are his wife at sixteen." Philip protested.

"I know, but what if he's the one I want to be married to?" Hermione asked.

"With six others?"

"Are you saying that your relationships are perfect?" Hermione countered.

"That's different."

"Is it? Perhaps it is, but it's my choice. Please trust me to make the right one for myself." Hermione stared her grandparents down.

"It's just so... I don't know how to describe it." Philip floundered for words.

"Harry doesn't do normal." Hermione managed a small, brief smile. "You'll learn that soon enough. He has this quality that allows him to exceed the normal limits we are bound by."

"You said it could transfer emotions, could it influence you to stay against you wishes?" Diane looked worried.

"No. That we're all sure of. I'm not saying that we won't be influenced by the oath, or Harry's raw power, but it can't force or create anything."

"Influenced? How?" Diane nearly demanded, concern and worry marring her features.

"It can't create or hide feelings but it can encourage or dampen them. Harry just wants us to be happy and to be friends so it's helping by dampening down our annoying habits a little and increasing our tolerances."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"It's not. We spend two and a half days mapping a complex hidden under the mountains in the World Room without any real arguing. We're becoming really good friends. Good enough that we would remain great friends even without the Oath." Hermione smiled.

"That's nice but still, marriage?"

"I know, but nothing's permanent yet. " Hermione shrugged. "We just know that if we want Harry then we'll have to share him. I think some of the others will probably stay with him though."

"Then why would you? It's not proper to share?" Diane refused to move past that one point.

"I know that but what if he's the one I want to spend the rest of my life with? What if no one else can even measure up to being half the man Harry is, even when he's a girl?" Hermione said passionately. "I've known him for years and loved him for nearly as long. It was only after he was turned into a girl and we swore the oath that I managed to summon the courage to tell him how I actually felt about him. What if I'm willing to accept the other girls just so I can stay with him? Am I allowed to make 'that' choice?"

The four adults looked at each other.

"That's a tough question." Jane admitted. "Yes it is your choice, but is it a choice you should be making?"

"It's not one you can take from me." Hermione stated firmly. "You can't tell me who is the right person for me so spend the rest of my life with."

"That's true." Jane sighed. "I don't like it, but promise you'll be careful. I don't want you to be hurt or taken advantage of."

"I won't be. Harry doesn't have it in him. He won't be making any first moves. He doesn't know how." Hermione looked sad as she remembered Harry's life.

The two women looked confused but the two men knew what she was talking about.

"He has had a hard life. An incredibly hard life." Kevin admitted. "Has anything been done about 'those' people?"

"No. Harry doesn't want us to do anything." Hermione grumbled. "I think he should have his Uncle fired and the whole family evicted."

"He could do that?" Philip looked surprised.

"Easily. He owns the house and a significant percentage of the company his Uncle works for." Hermione told them. "I also know a few interesting hexes I want to try on them."

"What are we missing?" Jane demanded of her husband.

"Harry grew up in a cupboard. No metaphors. An actual cupboard. For a decade his only remaining family treated him like a slave and starved him for even minor infractions. I don't know how he grew up to be the nicest guy I know." Hermione explained.

"That's not a reason to be with him though." Jane said.

"I know. How about because he is caring and generous and always puts other first and will stand between you and certain death without a second thought. He's intelligent and surprisingly insightful and passionate and sweet and in being his arms feels like the safest, warmest place on the planet. He's not perfect. He's emotionally and socially stunted and has a temper and can be scary when he standing there shouting but it's never without reason or serious provocation and it's never been violent towards anyone but those who truly deserve it. Are those better reasons?" Hermione was nearly shouting at them at the end of her tirade.

"Yes, alright. You're seeing him and the situation clearly." Jane admitted. "That's good. Is his temper that bad?"

"Not really. He did a lot of shouting last year but he'd been pushed beyond most people's breaking point. From what I've been told he inherited his Mother's temper. She was a redhead."

"So that old stereo-type held true?" Kevin managed a small chuckle.

"Maybe, but Harry's Dad and his friends were pranksters so she was probably provoked a lot."

That got a few chuckles.

"Please promise you won't interfere with my relationship with Harry." Hermione begged her grandparents and great-grandparents. "I promise that I won't rush anything but it's hard enough without more people involved. Mum and Dad are leaving the choice up to us, please do the same."

There were a lot of long glances shared but they finally agreed, albeit reluctantly.

!HPEaSE!

"Pathetic! Do it again!" Philip snapped.

Harry rolled back to his feet and focused on his opponent.

Philip had agreed to give Harry some combat training. At the moment this consisted of hand-to-hand combat practice, though he had devised exercise routines for all the girls. He had warned Harry that it would be 'rough' but Harry was feeling a little dizzy from the last blow to the head he had received. Philip had both training and experience and wasn't holding back.

The girls were watching the sparring session and were beginning to have to clutch each other in worry as Harry began sporting more and more bruises and blood began seeping from some of the harsher wounds.

Ginny clutched at Hermione and bit back a whimper as a feint and a deceptive combo allowed Philip to sink his foot deep into Harry stomach. Harry's breath exploded from his lungs and he ended up on all fours both struggling to get his breath back and dry retching. He managed to get back up and wiped his mouth, finding both saliva and blood leaking down his chin.

Kevin moved between the fight and the girls when he noticed that they were going to step in and stop the fight.

"Let them continue. This is nothing compared to real SAS training." He told them.

"He's being far too harsh though." Hermione complained.

"What would happen to him if his enemies, those Death Eaters, got their hands on him?"

Hermione didn't answer, but her glare spoke volumes.

Harry tried to block the next blow and managed to defend himself for a few seconds before a blow struck the side of his head, staggering him, and the next blow slipped through his momentarily weakened guard and a hand grabbed one of his breasts painfully and used it to slam him back to the ground.

"Get up!" Philip snapped. "Is that all you've got? How do you expect to protect anyone when you can't even protect yourself?"

Harry snarled slightly and tried to sweep the soldiers legs out under him from the ground. All it achieved was a booted heel to his knee.

'Damn it!' Harry swore mentally, wincing on pain.

He had been on the losing side of this fight from the beginning, beginning with the sucker punch that started it. That had been followed by shouted abuse about how he should be ready to defend himself and the others at all times. The fight had gone downhill from there. Harry had never received a moment to regain his balance and now he wasn't sure he could even if he got a chance.

"You know, this is pointless. You should just surrender to them. You may be supposed to be a guy but with this body you would provide them some entertainment." Philip sneered. "At least you won't be taking my granddaughter into a situation where she could be raped of worse."

"Oh, shit." Hermione gasped. "That was way over the line."

Harry snapped. Energy crackled around him as his anger at that comment tapped into his power, subconsciously calling it into the fray.

Harry went from sprawled on the ground to standing a few meters away in a blur. He skidded slightly on the grass as he stopped but his balance never wavered.

Philip retook his stance and he observed this new phenomenon, trying to judge if he should attack now or wait.

The feel of the energy increasing told him to attack sooner but that hesitation was enough to turn the tide of the fight. Philip sprang forward to close the gap but Harry's rage brought forth the winds that initially accompanied his energies. This time though they weren't a steadily stiffening breeze but a raging storm and Philip found himself lifted and thrown back.

Hermione and Ginny shared a glance and ran forward to face Harry and try to calm him down.

"Harry, please. It's fine. You have to get your emotions under control." Hermione shouted.

"Please Harry. It's okay." Ginny added her voice to Hermione's as they tried to calm the enraged wizard.

"I think we might want to start getting people out of here." Daphne said, staring at the rapidly building storm that was causing her hair to fly.

"Yeah." Susan gulped. "We don't want to be in here if they can't calm him down."

"So what do we do?" Hannah asked.

"You all take Hermione's family and get out of here." Daphne instructed. "Susan and I will wait and Apparate those two back to the Club House if they fail to calm Harry."

Tracy nodded and began pulling Kevin towards the exit of the World Room while Luna pulled Philip.

"Sorry about volunteering you." Daphne said to Susan as quietly as the howling wind would allow.

"Don't worry." Susan's eye's never left the scene in front of her. "We're the best at Apparation apart from Harry. We have the best changes of Side-Along Apparating those two out of there if it comes to it. They're not likely to leave on their own."

Daphne reached out and caught Susan's hand and gently squeezed it in thanks as they watched the two Gryffindor girls try to reach Harry through his anger and not get blown away at the same time.

"Harry! Please!" Hermione shouted, nearly begging.

Harry blinked and realised that he was about to hurt his closet friends and tried to rein in the excess energy that he had released but found he couldn't. He shifted his focus on rampaging winds and managed to turn and gather them in front of him. He them pushed as hard as he could and sent the mini tornado careening away from him and the others.

The four girls watched in relief as the compacted winds, swirling with enough intensity to be visible, raced towards the muggle section that had been ground zero for the last such event.

The few muggle housed caught by the edges had windows blown out and roofs partially lifted. The tall office building bore the brunt of the attack. Windows on all four sides of several levels were completely blown out and, though the building remained standing, it could be seen to be swaying visibly, even at the distance they were from the area.

"That was too close." Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.

Harry was shaking. "I'm sorry. I nearly hurt you. I... I... I'm... I'm sorry."

Harry ran past the four girls heading to the exit of the room.

"Harry, wait!" Hermione tried to stop him but he didn't show any sign of having heard her.

The other girls and the two adults had stopped when it became obvious the winds had changed and had seen the raging storm thrown at the muggle buildings and the results.

"Damn. That was impressive." Philip said quietly.

"We were lucky." Tracy snapped at the two muggles. "Last time Harry destroyed that area entirely and nearly the rest of the room along with it."

Conversation stopped as Harry sprinted past them.

"He was crying." Luna whispered into the silence and turned to glare at Philip.

Hermione ran up to them, closely followed by the others, and glared at her grandfather. She didn't say anything but it was obvious that she was fighting to find the right words.

She didn't in the end and instead pulled her wand and, a flash of light later, was running after Harry while her shocked grandfather had been brought to his knees.

The others girls stared in shock.

"Unexpected." Daphne finally managed to comment.

"Yeah." Susan agreed.

"We should check on Harry. He's still injured." Tracy set off.

The others followed leaving Luna standing with Hermione's grandfather and great-grandfather.

"You okay?" Kevin asked his son.

"Yeah, just a little queasy." Philip stopped as he turned green and vomited up a large green slug.

"So that's which spell she used." Luna commented airily. "I was curious."

Kevin was about to ask the unusual blond girl what was happening but waited as she summoned Dobby to get a bucket to catch the second slug to be vomited up. Dobby vanished the two slugs and left.

"What was that spell?" Kevin finally managed to ask.

"The Slug Vomiting charm." Luna chirped. "Normally Hermione would be totally against using such magic on a non-magical person. You've really pissed her off."

"Isn't there anything you can do?" Philip asked after spitting out the slime residue of the third slug.

"Nope. You're going to be vomiting those for about the next half hour." Luna told him cheerily.

"Urgh." Philip slumped.

"You deserve it." Luna's voice was suddenly serious and sharp in stark contrast to her normal airy voice. "Harry's biggest fear and continual argument against us helping him is his fear of us getting hurt and you threw it in his face in the worst possible way and for absolutely no reason and with no warning."

"Worse things happen during SAS training." Philip replied. "It's a dangerous job and you need to be prepared for what might happen."

"Do they do that to you on your first day?" Luna snapped. "You're angry at him for some reason and you took it out on him inappropriately."

"Yeah. We found out,... #blurg#, yuck." Philip stopped to vomit another slug.

"We found out that he had managed to marry our Hermione and several other girls, including you if I'm not mistaken." Kevin took over.

"You took that out on him?" Luna was aghast, and angry. "You stupid idiots! Harry is not responsible for us girls making that Oath. Nor is he responsible for us not being released. If you want to be angry at anyone over that point then you should be angry at us girls. Don't you dare take it out on him!"

"Perhaps, but it still doesn't make it right." Kevin stated.

"Only because you've been brought up believing that. It's not that uncommon in Padma's culture. Did you ever think that this situation might be the best thing for all of us?"

"Really?" Philip managed to look sceptical. "Can you honestly tell me that your oath isn't influencing you at all?"

Luna sighed and composed her thoughts. "I know it is, and I know how much. It has little more influence on us than a very attractive woman with impressive boobs would have on you. Its biggest effect is dampening the conflict that could arise between us. The rest is really just Harry."

"What do you mean?" Kevin asked.

"You need to understand that magic isn't just something we do, it's a part of who we are. That's why these oaths have such power. I'm sure you've heard of eye's being windows to the soul, it's possible but I wouldn't rely on it.

"What we have is magic. It's as important to us as in choosing a spouse, or friend, as beauty, intelligence, compassion, and anything else you fancy is to you. It has one important difference though; the feel of a person's magic is a true reflection of who they are at their deepest levels."

"So you're attracted to his magic?" Kevin looked sceptical.

"Not exactly, it just shows his purity, kindness, warmth, everything that makes a girl feel safe and loved simply by being in his presence. It's a better way of choosing someone than breast size or looks."

The two retired soldiers looked at each other in embarrassment.

"The feel of a person's magic tells you exactly who they are and Harry's is the most impressive I've ever felt. If I hadn't developed feelings for someone else I would consider him my husband instead of my sister."

"Okay, so magic is a big thing to you and Harry's a nice guy, girl, whatever. That doesn't make this right." Philip said.

"Perhaps if you let me talk instead of interrupting me I might be able to get to my point." Luna scolded him.

"Now, Harry is a special case." Luna resumed her lecture. "He's still developing who he is and, due to his upbringing, is very... 'suggestible'. He could pick any one of us girls and they would live a long happy life together simply because he would finish developing in a way that was compatible with her. Whoever he chose would help him develop certain skills to a high level and he would help do the same for her."

"Very nice. Your point?" Philip growled having just thrown up another slug.

Luna shot him a look that silenced him. "He would never reach his true potential though. Harry is a far more complex person than he appears. With eight very different girls, our combined influence on Harry will help him develop 'all' his skills and abilities so that he can truly become the man he is meant to be."

"Wonderful." Kevin said sarcastically. "So it's all about him. I'm not impressed."

"It's not." Luna contradicted him and pulled her wand. "Expecto Patronum!"

The two men flinched as the sliver light spilled forth and resolved into an odd animal.

"The Patronus Charm. It's a defensive spell powered by positive emotions and used against some very dark creatures." Luna explained. "This is normally not learnt until after you graduate. It's considered extra credit in your NEWTS."

"Newts?" Kevin looked confused.

"You study at Hogwarts for seven years. At the end of the fifth and seventh years you have the main exams, OWLS and NEWTS. These tests are graded at a standard level internationally."

"Right." Kevin nodded. "So, why are you showing us this?"

"Because most adults can't cast this spell at all, let alone to this level, and don't even try until after they graduate. Ginny and I are the youngest of the group having just finished our fourth year while everyone else has finished their fifth year. For us to be able to cast this spell at this level is unheard of. We only know it because Harry learnt it in his third year and taught us.

"Harry taught us an impressive piece of magic and has helped us improve in many other areas of spell casting just by being Harry. That's who Harry is; he brings out the best in anyone who is willing to let him. This bond we have with him due to the Oath brings us even closer to him and each other. While we are helping him reach him potential he is doing the same for us. And since we are linked to each other through Harry, we are doing the same for each other too.

"This bond we have with Harry is making us into far better people than we could ever have achieved with anyone else, bonded or not. Harry is the catalyst that will allow us to not just exceed our limits but to shatter them. We gain just as much from this bond with Harry as he does, if not more. Breaking the bond will hurt us more than you can imagine."

"That's food for thought." Kevin admitted, causing Philip to blanch at the mention of food.

"I understand it's hard for you to accept." Luna's voice softened. "But you have to leave the choice up to us and respect what we choose to do, even if you don't like it."

"That won't be easy." Kevin said.

"Just remember what Harry did to those buildings because I can see him doing that to anyone who hurts any of us." Luna grinned. "And that is just a sample of what he can do. He's almost destroyed this entire room in the past.

Kevin and Philip shared a scared look. Neither wanted to be on the wrong end of that attack.

"I owe him an apology, don't I?" Philip sighed.

"A very big and sincere apology." Luna glared at him.

Philip nodded, then leant back over the bucket to let another slug join the others.

"Is magic really that good an indication of a person's character?" Kevin asked curiously.

Luna nodded. "Yes, though most don't realise it consciously. I see things a little differently to others."

"Then if Harry's so great, why do you only see him as a sibling?"

"Because his magic was tainted by an outside force. I liked him because he was always nice to me when others weren't but the taint put me off. Because the others don't see things like that so clearly they looked pasted it more easily."

"A taint?" Kevin asked, worried.

"It's completely gone now. It was a residue from the murder attempt he survived as a baby. Now his true self shines through, though in a different body. If I had seen it first I would have fallen for him instead of my sweet Neville." Luna smiled happily.

"What sort of taint? Bad thoughts or emotions?"

"No. Even the purest of souls can feel those without compromising themselves. This taint is from delving and revealing in the darkest of magic's and emotions for long periods of time. It was like chains of Harry's entire being. Since they have been removed he can truly be himself."

"The source of that taint is what you are fighting isn't it?"

"Yes." Luna nodded.

"The others must have been impressed when you told them this."

"I haven't. There's no point."

"Huh?" Both Kevin and Philip looked shocked.

"They wouldn't learn anything useful. I saw the taint but never understood it. Harry figured out what it was after it was removed. As for the other things, knowing them would either not change anything or hamper them with unfair expectations. It would be better for everyone to just leave things as they are." Luna shrugged.

"How can you be so sure?"

"I have Seers in my ancestry. I don't think I am a Seer myself but I know I see things others don't. I know that the greatest happiness for Harry, Hermione and the others lies on the path they are currently taking. You want Hermione to be as happy as possible, don't you?" Luna asked pointedly.

"Of course." Philip answered.

"Then leave them to work things out on their own. They're on the right path for that, just support their decisions, even if you disagree with them."

"Are you sure she won't get hurt?" Philip nearly whispered.

Luna looked off into the distance. "There will be some pain but without pain, how can you understand happiness. The path with least pain for her also ends in the least happiness. This path will have more pain, but far less than others. I promise you that Harry will not hurt her. He'd hurt himself first."

Kevin and Philip both remained silent as they contemplated her words.

"Where would Harry be?" Philip said quietly.

"I'm not sure, but I'd wait until you've finished throwing up those slugs." Luna commented returning to her airy tones. "It's really rather disgusting."

!HPEaSE!

"How are you?" Hermione asked as she sat next to Harry on his bed.

"Dunno." Harry was sitting there, knees curled up to his chin.

Hermione wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. Ginny sat on his other side and Susan and Daphne moved behind him so that they could hug him comfortingly as well. The others sat on the bed in front of him, silently offering their support.

"What if they're right?" Harry asked after a few minutes. "What if awful things happen to you because you're with me? What if I hurt you by accident?"

"They could hurt us even if we stayed away from you." Susan replied.

"At least you have the chance to protect us if we're with you." Daphne added. "And we are learning to defend ourselves as well."

"We know the risks Harry." Hermione told him. "This is nothing we haven't discussed amongst ourselves already. If it happens it will be terrible but all we can do is train and plan and try to ensure it doesn't happen."

"Come on." Tracy said after a minute of silence. "I need to heal you."

"I'm okay." Harry tried to dissuade her.

"No you're not. He hurt you and I'm going to heal you so either you let me or I stun you first."

Harry groaned, but allowed the Slytherin witch to heal him, the other witches backing off to give her room to work.

Tracy worked her wand over Harry's body, healing the bruises inflicted in the recent sparring session. When she finished she surprised everyone by sitting down in his lap and embracing him.

"Now, we're in a dangerous situation but we will work together as a team and make sure we all come home safe." Tracy spoke into his ear softly.

Harry nodded against her shoulder.

"Now, we should practise Occlumency. If you lose control like that in a real battle then you could end up hurting us and I know you'd hate that."

Harry pulled back with an aghast and shocked expression. "Did... I didn't, did I?"

"No, you didn't hurt us but it was risky for us." Tracy told him honestly. "You have to have control of your abilities Harry. You have too much power not too."

Harry nodded. "I know, I'm sorry. Let's practise."

They all sat on the bed comfortably and entered their meditative trances.

They got nearly an hour of practise before Luna tapped on the door and entered.

"Sorry to interrupt but there are two people in the Living Room wanting to apologise to Harry." Luna said in her usual absent tone. "I'm quite impressed by your charm, Hermione. It took nearly an hour to wear off, much longer than I expected."

"I was angry." Hermione replied. "Are they going to give an honest apology?"

"I think so." Luna perched herself on the edge of the bed.

"You used a spell on your own grandparents?" Harry looked at Hermione in shock.

"He hurt you." Hermione stated matter of factly. "It was only the Slug Vomiting charm."

"Yuck." Harry pulled a face in disgust.

"Yes, well, I was quite disgusted with him for how he hurt you."

"I should go see what they want." Harry said reluctantly.

"Come on. If they don't apologise properly then I want to be there to hex them again." Hermione stood and offered Harry a hand to his feet.

The whole group headed along the corridor to the Living Room where the two retired soldiers were waiting.

Philip stood as they entered. "I owe you a huge apology. I acted in a completely unprofessional manner and took my frustrations out on you. I'm really sorry. You're not too badly hurt are you?"

"Compared to Voldemort's Cruciatus curse, it's nothing." Harry waved his concerns off.

"The problem is the emotional damage you gave him." Hermione growled. "You watched his memories, you knew his weakness, and you pounded on them for no reason."

"I know." Philip sighed. "And I'm going to have to do it again. But not to hurt you, I promise. You have a weakness there and I have to train you to focus past it or your worst nightmares, and mine, 'will' come to life."

Harry closed his eyes. He felt Hermione about to retaliate and touched her arm to stop her while he let the old soldiers words sink in.

"You're right." Harry finally admitted. "I can't lose control like that; it would cost me everything against Voldemort."

"How can you talk like this?" Hermione protested angrily.

"I was tortured during my SAS training." Philip told the assembled group of girls, and the pseudo-girl. "It's a mandatory part if you want to pass the course. It's to show you what will happen to you if you are caught. It's so you fully understand the risks and their consequences."

"That's barbaric." Hermione protested.

"It's necessary." Philip countered. "Every one of us went on our missions fully understanding the situation and we were better off for it.

"I'm not suggesting that I'm going to torture you, but you need to understand the risks if you are caught. Harry, you might be able to withstand unimaginable pain but what if they are carving your body to pieces, or one of your friends? What then?" Philips voice softened at the end but the severity of his words struck the students like a hammer.

Harry shuddered. "This is why I don't want them to get involved. If they were hurt like that, it would tear me apart."

"And we feel the same about you Harry." Daphne spoke softly.

"Which is why we're going to be there to make sure you come back safe." Ginny stated firmly.

"It's always harder when it's someone other than yourself." Susan commented. "But you have to weight everything up against the whole situation. Some things are more important than our safety. We can protect ourselves. Many of V...V... You-Know-Who's victims can't."

Harry nodded. "Nearly Susan."

"You do all realise that there's a simple answer, do you?" Tracy commented.

"Do tell." Hannah prompted.

"We train our cute little arses off so that there is no way any of them could hold us captive, let alone capture us in the first place." Tracy stated.

"Bold answer for a Slytherin." Hermione teased as the mood lifted dramatically.

"No, just cunning, and really, really ambitious." Tracy grinned.

!HPEaSE!

"I think Harry's ready to try and enchant the Basilisk Hide sample you gave me." Daphne said as she sat in front of her father's desk in his study.

"Very good news. I have completed the jewellery you wanted enchanted and some more knives. You can take them with you tomorrow." Lord Greengrass replied.

"Thanks." Daphne nearly gushed.

"Contain yourself daughter."

"Sorry Father. This is just really good news."

"I am aware of that. How is your training coming?"

"My duelling skills are improving rapidly. Not as fast as Harry though."

"Is he really that good?"

"I think he may become the best dueller in the world. Ever! I just hope to be even half as good." Daphne told him.

"Harry seems to be an extremely talented young man, woman." Lord Greengrass frowned. "How do you handle that?"

"Harry is still a guy at heart and we call him such. He's managed to return to his male form, at least for short periods of time. Perhaps that may change when he masters it."

"There is potential for him to create a new identity for his female form; a disguise of sorts. It appears that he will have his female form for quite some time."

Daphne pondered for a moment. "That's a good idea. I'll raise it with him. Goodnight Father."

"Good-night Daughter."

!HPEaSE!

"Finally!" Susan glared at her Aunt as she appeared through the floo.

"Sorry. Every day just seems to last longer." Amelia sighed.

Susan shifted on the couch where she was reading, dropping her feet to the floor to allow her Aunt to collapse next to her.

"So, anything interesting happen today?" Amelia asked after a minute.

"Hermione's Grandparents and Great Grandparents arrived for a visit today. Her Granddad served in the SAS, whatever that is, and they are going to help in our training."

"The SAS is a muggle military unit. An elite military unit." Amelia studied her niece. "If you are serious about your training then learn what you can from him. I might pay him a visit. Maybe I can use his skills or provide aid for your mission."

"Our mission?" Susan was a little confused.

"You're planning on helping Harry defeat You-Know-Who aren't you? That sounds like a real mission if there ever was one."

Susan nodded. "How was your day?"

"Meetings all day with people who are out to get as much for themselves as they can and screw over everyone else."

"Language!" Susan teased.

"I've spent the entire day watching my language young lady." Amelia fired back. "I'll be stuffed if I have to do it at home as well. You should know better by now anyway."

Susan giggled at her tired Aunt. "Anything else, that you can tell me anyway?"

"There is to be a celebration of my ascension to Minister of Magic on Friday. You are going to have to attend with me. Actually I think most of your friends will be there anyway. Harry certainly will have to attend."

"That'll go down well." Susan grimaced.

"Oh?"

"He has managed to return to his male form, but only for short periods. Nowhere near long enough for an evening event."

"Then he'll just have to attend in his female form." Amelia stated.

"That's what isn't going to go over well." Susan grimaced.

"The event starts at Six but I'll want him, and the rest of you here at Five."

"Huh? Why?" Susan looked confused.

"I'm holding a strategy meeting. Because of Harry's influence, I'll need his support. And since you and the other girls are standing with him then you need to be here to learn how to work with him and advise him."

"I understand." Susan nodded.

"Good. Now, it's late. Go to bed." Amelia gave her a hug and then a gentle push towards the door.

"'Night Aunty."

"Goodnight Susan."Amelia smiled as her niece vanished.

!HPEaSE!

Officer Ann Anderson left the Station, she'd worked at late. Again. Her sister's new friend kept bothering her and her searches for answers kept coming up dry. She could find nothing on this mysterious girl called Harriet Potter. Nothing.

There were more unanswered questions piling up every single day and she didn't like that one bit. She joined the police because she liked solving puzzles and this one was getting the better of her.

She was not going to give up just yet though.

!HPEaSE!

"Hermione?" Ginny looked at her older friend in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"Putting on a swimsuit." Hermione, her back turned, dropped the last of her clothing on her bed and reached for her bikini. "You should too."

"Why?"

"Because we are taking Harry swimming tonight." Hermione explained. "He needs some positive time with us after the mess my Grandfather put him through today."

"Okay." Ginny nodded and went to her own drawers.

Hermione finished tying her top and half turned to talk to Ginny while still giving her some privacy.

"You know, there is a muggle tradition about a 'midnight swim'. They are a special private moment between couples."

"Sounds nice, but we are a little more than a couple." Ginny commented.

"True." Hermione grinned suddenly. "We're also missing the most important part."

"Huh? What?" Ginny paused in tying her own top. "I want us to do this right."

"They're usually done naked. Are you ready for that?" Hermione repressed her grin.

"Uhh." Ginny froze, her face turning bright red. "No. I'm not, sorry."

"Neither am I." Hermione assured her. "I'll go get Harry ready while you finish getting ready."

Hermione pulled a t-shirt on over her swimsuit and left the red-head to compose herself after the surprise revelation and finish getting ready.

Hermione tapped on Harry's door and opened it after a moment. Harry was sitting on his bed meditating. Hermione entered and sat next to him quietly but the movement of the mattress under him broke his concentration.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you." Hermione apologised.

"It's okay. Can I help you? And why are you dressed like that?" Harry blushed as he saw Hermione's bare legs disappear under her t-shirt, sitting just below her hips.

"Stop it Harry. You've seen me in less than this before."

Harry's blush deepened at the thought.

"Harry!" Hermione huffed, but grinned inwardly at his reaction. "We're going swimming, so change immediately."

"Swimming? This late? I need to go to sleep soon." Harry protested.

"We won't go swimming for long. You need some fun. It's just going to be you, me and Ginny. We may even have some kissing too, so be ready to bring out your male body, okay?" Hermione stood and headed for the door.

"Hermione?" Harry called as she left the room.

"Yeah?"

"Do I have to wear a bikini? If you want me to turn into a guy I'm just going to... to... umm... 'falll out' again."

Hermione stifled a giggle at the thought. "I wouldn't mind that, but otherwise you can wear swim shorts with your bikini top. I got you a pair; girls wear that sort of thing too, occasionally."

Harry gave Hermione a long look. "Do you mind telling me why you have me wearing those tiny bikini bottoms then?"

"Tiny?" Hermione lifted her t-shirt a little to reveal her bikini thong, emphasising her point. "Yours aren't that tiny and they are perfectly suited for a female body. Plus they aren't much smaller than the shorts and they help you get used to your new body, which is more important."

"Okay." Harry relented, not wanting to argue with her.

"Plus, less clothing can provide an openness that's normally hidden." Hermione added. "It can make us more vulnerable and force us to trust each other more. Something that we really do need as a group."

"Clothing can be a means of hiding ourselves." Harry nodded in understanding.

"Or a part of ourselves that we feel weakens us." Hermione nodded. "Honesty and openness is something we need to develop between all of us."

"Can I ask something?"Harry spoke hesitantly.

"Of course."

"Why is it that you all seem to have already decided to stay with me?"

"We haven't, but the reality is, for me at least, that the only thing I'm not sure about is sharing you with the other girls. I may not be ready to have sex with you and I know you're far from ready yourself, but that's just a matter of time." Hermione's cheeks flushed slightly at the topic of conversation.

Harry was bright red. "You really mean that?"

"We've known each other for five years and gone through some pretty rough situations. I may not know everything about you, but I know enough to know that I could be very happy spending the rest of my life with you." Hermione closed the gap between them and gently cupped Harry's cheek. "I just need to know if I can handle sharing you with the others and that isn't easy, as much as I like them all."

"None of you should have to share anyone." Harry said quietly, eyes wide at the simple, yet intimate touch.

"We should be able to be with the person who we love the most. The person who will make us the happiest. What if we all find that most special person in you? Should we give it up?"

Harry couldn't find an answer to that.

"I feel the same way." Ginny made her presence in the doorway known. "In fact, to be honest, I think that if it were just Hermione I was sharing you with I would've already decided to stay with you. I'm still getting to know the others but I like them too. We seem to be building a strong group here and I like being a part of it."

"We know you aren't sure about this Harry." Hermione spoke again. "It's to your credit. But, please, let us chose to be with you on our own. You have to choose whether you can be with all of us. That is the only thing you need to focus on. It is our choice to share you, let us make it."

Harry nodded. "Okay."

"Thanks." Hermione smiled and lent forward to place a gentle kiss on his lips. "Now, hurry up and change. I want to go swimming."

Harry nodded and turned towards the drawers.

Harry and Ginny were surprised when Hermione pulled them into the World Room and pushed them towards the stairs heading down.

"Hermione?" Harry questioned.

"Head to the river, I'll catch you up. I just want to do something first." Hermione headed up to the next level while waving them towards the other stairs.

Harry and Ginny left the building and headed out across the nearly trimmed grass towards the river. The fake sky was dark with a partial moon and twinkling stars. It was anyway. The sky suddenly lightened and the red glow of a sunset appeared.

"Different. I've never seen a reverse sunset before." Harry commented as he stopped to watch.

"Me neither." Ginny replied. "Wait. It's stopped."

"No. I think it's going forward again." Harry countered.

"Ah. She wanted to create a more romantic setting." Ginny realised.

"Oh." Harry paused and looked back towards the Club House.

Sure enough Hermione appeared and run towards them. Harry blushed at the sight on her lightly confined and covered breasts were bouncing vigorously under her movements.

"What you do think?" She asked as she caught up.

"Pretty." Ginny said. "Very romantic."

"Good." Hermione caught one of Harry's arms and pulled him into motion again.

Ginny caught his other arm and the three Gryffindors finished their trip to the river.

When they got there they expected to stop but Hermione kept them going.

"I want to explore the island up river by the waterfall." She explained.

"Oh, yes. That's a wonderful idea." Ginny brightened.

"I thought so."

"Umm." Harry paused and was jerked slightly as the two girls refused to stop walking and pulled him along. "I've already been on the island."

"So? Just keep quiet and don't spoil it for us." Hermione shot him a glare.

"How are we going to get out to it?" Harry asked. "I used a broom last time."

"We're going to swim, of course." Hermione told him. "That's why we're wearing swimsuits."

"Uh." Harry hesitated again. "I'm getting better at swimming but I'm not sure I'm that good yet."

"Don't worry. We'll be right next to you the entire time to keep you safe." Hermione pulled his arm closer to reassure him.

"Thanks."

They reached the lake edge and continued round until they reached the closest point to the small island in the middle. Hermione casually pulled off her t-shirt and headed into the water.

"You two coming?" She called back casually over her shoulder.

Harry and Ginny shared a glance and quickly followed suit.

It was a long swim for Harry as he slowly paddled out to the island but Hermione and Ginny both kept pace with him and made sure he was okay. As soon as he felt the sandy beach of the island he put his feet down and pulled himself out of the water and sat on a rock to rest. Hermione and Ginny swam a little more before getting out and sitting next to him.

"This is nice." Hermione sighed as she leant into his shoulder gently.

"Yeah, but it could be better." Ginny stood and pulled them both to their feet. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Harry asked as he let the younger red-head pull him and Hermione.

"We'll get a better view of the sunset from over here."

Hermione smiled and let go of Ginny's hand and caught Harry's other hand to help pull him along. "Wonderful idea,. I wish I had thought of it."

Better positioned to watch the last of the sunset they sat together, Harry in the middle and both girls resting against his shoulders.

"This is really nice." Harry whispered as the fake sun finally disappeared.

"You sound a little surprised." Hermione whispered back.

"I've never done anything like this before." Harry explained. "I like it."

"Then we'll just have to do this more often." Ginny said.

"I'd like that." Harry smiled.

Hermione turned away from the sunset to look at Harry and felt her smile widen at the happy look on his face. She couldn't resist and leant over to kiss his cheek. "I agree. We should do this more often."

Harry looked at her in shock at the sudden show of affection but she just used to opportunity to gently touch her lips to his.

Both Harry and Ginny jerked in surprise.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"What?" Hermione smiled. "Harry is still Harry. His body has nothing to do with who he is."

"Oh." Ginny nodded. "I understand. But..."

"You're not ready to take that step." Hermione finished for her. "That's fine. I think Harry should turn back and see how long he can hold it. While we distract him..."

Ginny blushed as the insinuation but nodded gamely. "Okay. Harry?"

Harry looked between the two girls and gulped but shifted back to his male for, feeling his shorts shift as his body changed inside them and the bikini top fell free against his chest as his breasts vanished.

Hermione leant in again and captured his lips in a longer deeper kiss before pulling back and nodding to Ginny.

Ginny blushed and gently caught his chin to guide his face towards her and planted her own firm kiss in his lips. After a moment she gave a gentle moan of pleasure and leant deeper into the kiss.

Hermione watched the two kiss and smiled. It wasn't hurting. It didn't feel painful. The bond they had was blocking those feelings and allowing her to watch the man she had fallen for kiss her best female friend happily. In fact, she didn't want to just watch. She leant forward and started kissing Harry's shoulders and the back of his neck.

Harry jerked in surprise at the sudden attention to his back but Ginny didn't release him from her kiss for another few moments. She looked and her eyes widened as she saw Hermione laying kisses across his shoulder and working up his neck.

Harry gasped for breath he had only just realised he needed and Hermione pulled back a little.

"Silly. Breathe through your nose." She told him as she gently turned him back to face and, giving him a moment to get his breathing under control, pulled him into her own passionate kiss.

Ginny watched, then took her cue from Hermione and began kissing Harry's neck herself.

They continued this way, alternating back and forth, their kisses increasing in passion and intensity until Harry suddenly realised he was about to change back and pulled free from Hermione's kiss.

"Sorry, but I'm about to change back." He panted breathlessly, his cheeks flushed.

Hermione nodded and pushed him to Ginny. "Then we should make the most of the time you have left."

Ginny nodded but said nothing. She was already capturing his lips with her own.

Hermione sat back to watch happily and saw Harry shift back. His hair lightening to the vivid red and lengthening down his back. She reach round Harry carefully so as not to disturb the kissing pair and pull his loosely hanging bikini top back into place to preserve his modesty and waited for the pair to end their kiss naturally.

Ginny pulled back smiling happily. She opened her eyes and her flush shifted from passion to embarrassment as she saw Harry had turned back already.

"Sorry." Harry looked down sadly.

"Don't be. I didn't want to stop." Ginny told him. "It's just going to take some getting used to."

"Yeah." Harry nodded and turned to Hermione. "Thanks for... you know."

"Putting you back in your top." Hermione grinned. "You're welcome. And, just so you know, I'm not ready to stop just yet."

Harry's expression took on a deer in the headlamps look and Hermione closed the gap and kissed him firmly and passionately.

Ginny was surprised too but relaxed and watched them calmly and found herself smiling happily. She felt no jealousy at the sight. It was a little odd to see two girls kissing but this was Harry and Hermione, the two people in the world she was closet to. It was actually quite beautiful.

Hermione finally pulled back. "That was wonderful."

"I agree." Ginny moved closer and hugged Harry from behind. "We'll do this more often right?"

"Please?" Harry managed to ask.

"I want to." Hermione agreed with them. "I want to keep going right now but it's getting late and Harry has his morning lessons to consider.

"Yeah." Ginny nodded. "Harry also has to work on holding his male form for longer."

"I get the feeling that I will be getting lots of practise at that." Harry commented.

"You'd better believe it." Ginny growled at him playfully. "Hermione might not mind kissing you in your female form but I'm not ready yet and I know she would prefer you male form too."

"Yeah." Hermione admitted. "Sorry, but I do."

"That's okay." Harry assured her. "I still prefer that form myself."

"How are you coping with this one?" Ginny asked gently.

"It's getting easier, but I still struggle a little occasionally." Harry looked down.

"That's understandable." Hermione gently gripped his shoulder comfortingly. "It's only been about three weeks. Is the day to day stuff easier?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded.

"Good. Everything else will get easier too, in time."

"I know." Harry sighed. "Come on. It's late and I need to sleep."

Hermione and Ginny shared a sad look at the abrupt end to the conversation and followed him back into the water.

They reached the shore and Harry summoned their t-shirts but they didn't bother putting them back on as they walked to the room's exit. Instead Hermione and Ginny pressed their scantily clad bodies against Harry's to provide him as much comfort as possible.

He stiffened a little at first but soon relaxed and soon the mood lightened to a happier one the better reflected their special time together and they walked under the silver light of a full moon.

"A full moon?" Ginny looked across Harry to Hermione.

"I thought it might be more romantic." Hermione admitted.

"Um." Harry paused. "When we master our Animagus forms, do you think we should invite Moony to spend the real full moons in here so we can keep him company? That sort of thing really does help him."

"I think that's a wonderful idea." Hermione smiled.

"I agree." Ginny added. "Just as long as it doesn't get in the way of our snogging."


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

Sorry about the delays in posting the latest instalment, I've been incredibly busy at work. On the plus side, I have managed to prepare two chapters for release so I'm hoping that will make up for it.

I'm starting to pick up the pace of the story and, just as a warning, things are starting to get a little steamy.

Please enjoy.

**Chapter 22**

A tired and sweaty Harry returned from his martial arts lesson looking forward to breakfast and the short break before his Auror led training session. Kevin and Philip were looking forward to sitting in on the lesson and discussing tactics with the two Aurors.

"Hurry up and get cleaned up, Harry." Hermione told him as he passed through the extensions living room. "Susan has an important announcement for us."

"Okay." Harry nodded. "I'll be right back. Could you whip me up some breakfast please?"

"Sure."

Harry was quick, returning ten minutes later. He sat down at the table and Hermione slid his breakfast and a drink in front of him.

"Right, now that we're all here." Susan stood nervously. "My Aunt told me last night that a ceremony to celebrate her ascension to Minister of Magic on Friday night. The celebration starts at six. The meal will probably start around 7:30 with dancing afterwards."

"And we're all invited?" Hannah asked; she and several of the other girls were looking excited.

"Yes. Harry specifically, but all of us. Aunty sees us as a package deal at the moment." Susan grinned. "She wants to see all of us at my place beforehand at five. She wants to discuss political strategy. That means all of us and most of our parents."

Hermione nodded. "Interesting. That should be a very productive meeting."

"I agree." Harry looked thoughtful. "I'll need Kingsley, Tonks, Andy and Narcissa there too. As proxies and advisers they should have an input into any positions I will be expecting them to hold."

"Should my Father be there too?" Padma asked.

"I think so." Harry answered. "I promised to try and get him admitted to the Wizengamot. If we want his support we should include him rather than simply tell him what to do."

The other girls agreed. "I'll tell Aunty to invite them as well." Susan added.

"I've a few things to say too." Daphne caught their attention. "I have some more Basilisk Fang knives for us, not Ginny's one but some others. I also have the jewellery we got. It's been enchanted but needs to go the Gringotts for the additional protections. Finally, I have a sample of Basilisk hide. If Harry can enchant it successfully then we can get our armour improved dramatically. It'll be much better and more comfortable too."

"Can I finish eating first?" Harry asked plaintively.

"Of course." Daphne smiled happily. "It can wait until this afternoon when you've rested from our training."

Harry sighed gratefully and returned to his meal.

The training was the usual Wednesday training. Physical endurance and learning new spells. Kevin and Philip watched the lesson then took Tonks and Hestia aside to discuss it with them afterwards.

Harry took his second shower for the day and put on a bikini and pulled a light dress on over the top. It was a nice day out and he was planning on enjoying it.

He joined the others in the little courtyard where they had lunch waiting and were already sprawled out in deck chairs enjoying the summer day.

Daphne waved him to the deck chair next to her and placed a book on Enchanting in front of him.

"This is the first of the enchantments I want you to try." She began instructing him as he reached for a sandwich to munch on as he listened to her carefully.

He also tried not to look at her. In her swimsuit, with her substantial cleavage, when she lay on her stomach and propped herself up on her elbows, she had a lot on display. Very nice, but very distracting.

Daphne noticed his occasional glances and subsequence blushes and had to repress her grin. His interest in her was most welcome. She shifted slightly so her arm would push her breasts up a little more, enhancing the view, and the intensity of his blush.

When Harry felt he had recovered enough he studied the basilisk hide, getting a feel for the material he was going to have to enchant. He may have managed to skin the massive beast with one spell but he knew there was huge difference between cutting the skin and endowing it with a long term enchantment. This was going to be a difficult task.

He reviewed the wand movements needed as Daphne wrote out the runes needed to support the spells.

He took a deep breath and released it, tapping into his magical core as strongly as possible. The charge of energy around him when beyond a mere feeling or presence and moved into a physical aura the filled the courtyard.

The girls didn't notice their work being blown away and scattered around the small courtyard by the energy being released as they watched, mesmerised. Harry firmly moved his wand in the described path reciting the incantation and released the spell.

The spell leapt into the hide and caused the runes to glow brightly as they absorbed the magical energy. They watched with baited breath as the runes held their glow for a very long minute before fading.

Harry was panting slightly from the expended energy and looked over at Daphne. "Did I do it right?"

Daphne was staring at the hide and only barely noticed the question. "Well, it didn't blow up so it didn't go wrong."

She picked up the hide and looked it over. "It's looks right. Here's the test..."

She pulled at the hide and it stretched like it was elastic.

"It worked." She whispered. She looked up at her friends and her voice rose in her excitement. "IT WORKED!"

She dropped the hide and lunged at Harry, engulfing him in a huge hug. "You're amazing, Harry. Simply amazing."

Harry had to grab her back and struggled to retain his balanced. "Is it really that good?"

"It's brilliant." Daphne hugged him again. "We still need to do a few tests, but it looked perfect."

She cast several diagnostic spells on the hide and nodded approvingly. "I'll hold it; can someone cast a few spells on it. We need to make sure it retains its defensive properties."

Ginny volunteered and began casting low level spells on it, gradually increasing the spells power until one managed to break through, narrowly missing the Slytherin girl's body.

"Eek." Daphne flinched reflexively. "Well, that provided a lot of protection. Our armour should hold against most low and mid level spells and blunt higher level spells a lot. We might even survive a hit from the Killing Curse, though I don't want to have to find that out since we would still be in really bad shape."

"This is very promising." Hermione studied the now damaged hide sample. "Very promising indeed."

"It's going to take a while to make the armour though." Harry said. "The number of spells involved in making a single suit will be substantial. I don't think I could do too many spells of that level in a day. We may be back at Hogwarts before we finish."

"Understandable." Tracy nodded. "Start with yours. Daph's, Ginny's, Susan's and Luna's should be next then mine, Hermione's, Padma's and Hannah's. You five need it more than us with you being on the front lines."

"I just wish there was a way to speed the process up." Harry grumbled.

"We all do." Hermione assured him.

!HPEaSE!

Harry got the rest of Wednesday off, the other girls didn't as they were introduced to hand-to-hand combat by the former SAS soldier.

They didn't like it.

He was nowhere near as rough on them as he was on Harry. In fact, he was a skilled and patient teacher that could impart his years of training and experience to the girls very professionally.

It was still a very physical subject, one that had the girls hitting the ground repeatedly, much to their displeasure.

Thursday was Harry's turn for pain as he went to his Martial Arts lesson. The first half was his staff lesson, his second was a spar with Kate.

"Here." She tossed a pair of long strips of towelling to Harry. "Wrap them around the ends of your staff."

She demonstrated with her own staff and supervised Harry as he followed suit.

"Why did we do this?" Harry asked as he tied off the second wrap.

"Padding. It's so we can go all out in our spar without hurting each other." Kate explained. "Well, not too much at least."

"Oh." Harry replied faintly and gulped at the implication.

Kate took her stance. "Ready?"

Harry mirrored her and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "Ready."

Kate grinned and started her attack.

The spar was much like their previous one except much faster. The moves were more fluid and harder to defend against. The padding really helped blunt the force of the blows they managed to slip through each other's guards. Kate was astounded by Harry's reflexes as they allowed him to keep pace with her.

Kate stepped back and lowered her guard to signal the end of the spar.

"Wow, Harry. You improve so quickly." She said around her panting. "I've spent years learning to do this and you've picked it up in, well, seconds it feels like."

Harry blushed at the complement. "I've still got a lot to learn."

"You have, but your progress is remarkable." John entered the conversation. "Very good work you two. Harry, excellent as always. Kate, you have shown considerable progress. I wonder if I should make Harry a sparring partner for all my classes if this is the sort of progress she can inspire."

Kate grinned happily while Harry blushed further at the complement.

!HPEaSE!

With the impending celebration there was much discussion on how to handle the event. Harry couldn't hold his male form for anywhere near long enough to last the entire event and if he used it to his maximum ability he would be limited in the number of times he could change for the day.

They decided that he should attend as a girl and save his male form for the dancing. By bringing a suitable change of clothing he could change and have a dance with them all before changing back to rest and enjoy the rest of the night. His actual appearance as a female was still largely unknown which would provide him some anonymity.

Harry was unsure about this but agreed that it was the most logical option. He was also put on the defensive when asked if his dancing abilities had improved any since the Yule Ball. His response was obvious and he took turns learning to dance with each of the girls, both in his male form to practise endurance, and his female form to practise wearing the heeled shoes that would match the dress they had chosen for him.

One of the breaks involved a quick trip to Diagon Ally where he was fitted for new male dress robes and a visit to Gringotts to drop of the jewellery for their final enchantments while waiting for the robes to be completed.

Daphne's mother provided another distraction when she arrived to continue their Occlumency training. Harry had a nasty surprise for her.

"I warned you." She scolded him as she looked around at the dark haze obscuring her view. "I told you not to push too hard or you would hurt yourself."

Harry appeared next to her in the mindscape, grinning. "It's not what you think. You should stay still."

Lady Greengrass looked at him, waiting for him to explain.

With a flourish, Harry cleared the haze to reveal they were standing on a small spire of rock, so high the ground couldn't be seen. A number of other spires surrounded them, leading towards a massive cliff face.

"What do you think of my initial defence?" Harry grinned.

"Very good. You had me completely fooled." Lady Greengrass complemented him. "I think you would fool nearly any normal inspection. It really looked like it did when we first started. These spires are good too, it makes any movement dangerous."

"I'm trying to build more active defences too." Harry told her. "They're a bit harder though."

"I know. They are also quite personal so make your best start and I'll help you along as much as I can." Lady Greengrass replied.

She looked around more. "I am astounded by your progress. Could you please show me some more?"

"Sure." Harry took her hand and shifted them atop the cliff. "Follow me."

!HPEaSE!

A nondescript young man was buzzed into the secure office of his superior.

"Sir, our analysts have detected a number of search hits on a person of interest." He stood before the aging man, still retaining an aura or power and authority, seated behind the desk.

"Details, please." The man replied.

"Sir." The young man placed several folders, one at a time, on the desk. "The person of interest, current information on the related situation, the person performing the search, the details of the search and background information."

"Thank you. I will review the material and get back to you with a recommendation."

"Sir." The young man turned and left the office.

The aging man opened the first folder. "This person. Interesting."

!HPEaSE!

Voldemort looked at his few remaining followers.

"We need to push recruitment. These numbers are insufficient to make any progress towards our goal." He ordered.

"There are a number of younger people who are willing to join but they are hampered by the underage magic restrictions." Wormtail replied.

"Then get them unregistered wands." Voldemort snarled. "And look towards the Continent, there are plenty of dark wizards there who will delight in the opportunities I can provide them."

"Yes, My Lord."

"My Lord," another Death Eater asked hesitantly, "are we going to attack the Ministry Event tomorrow night?"

"As tempting an opportunity as it is, we lack the numbers to take advantage of it in any significant way. It will provide us with an opportunity though. There is a person I want you to bring to me..."

!HPEaSE!

Friday was a day of contrasts. One anyway. A big one.

Harry was getting increasingly nervous at the impending evening event.

The girls were getting increasingly excited.

They had finished lunch and relaxed for a short while before ordering Harry into the shower. They hadn't washed themselves after the Auror training, knowing that they would want to be freshly showered when they started getting ready for the evening.

Hermione joined him in his bedroom and picked out the dress, lingerie and shoes he would be wearing that evening.

"Shower and then put your lingerie on. Worry about the dress and shoes later. If you don't mind, we'll join you in here once we're all showered to get ready. Extra hands are helpful and you have the largest room."

"While just wearing lingerie?" Harry looked at her in shock, and a little fear. "That pair is tiny, I'm not sure I'm ready to wear something that small. It's, it's..."

"A thong, yes. Unfortunately, anything larger would ruin the lines of your dress." Hermione told him softly. "I know this is a leap for you but you have to look your best tonight."

"That means makeup too, right?"

"Yeah. Just a little but, yeah."

Harry slumped sadly.

Hermione hugged him gently. "I'm sorry but you have to attend tonight and you know you're going to have to be a girl for most of it."

Harry nodded reluctantly. "Alright."

"If it makes you feel better, we're all going to be in our lingerie too. Mine's about this size." Hermione gave him an impish grin. "Please enjoy the view."

Harry turned bright red at the thought and fled to the bathroom.

"Harry!" Hermione's call stopped him.

She tossed the scanty lingerie to him when he turned to look at her. "You'll want those with you. We'll be coming here when we're ready so you won't be able to put them on out here without an audience."

Harry caught the small bundle of fabric and vanished into the bathroom, the door shutting firmly behind him.

Hermione smiled and left to have her own shower.

Harry ensured the door was locked to ensure his privacy. The thoughts Hermione had just put into his head were running rampant. He stripped and shut himself in the shower.

Standing under the warm water he tried to calm himself but Hermione's words were pervasive. They ruled his thoughts as he started washing his body, his hands working over his female form.

Something was different. His touch had never felt this way before. He was suddenly much more aware of his body. His hands moved over his breasts and the surge of feeling made him gasp. He found himself stroking them far more than he needed too to wash them, as he revelled in the sensations his touch elicited. His thoughts, firmly on Hermione and the others in some of the tiny lingerie they had brought. It wasn't his body he was touching, it was theirs.

One of his hands worked down his body to slide between his legs. If he thought his breasts were stimulating, it was nothing to this. His hand gently moved as he tried to find the place and movement that would give the most pleasure. He was moaning quietly now as the rampant feelings coursed through his body.

His hands pace slowly increased, building the sensations until he was panting for breath. He suddenly became aware of a powerful new feeling building inside him, centred between his legs but spreading and intensifying.

The new sensation grew and grew until it became too intense for Harry to bear and his hands faltered. The feelings began subsiding leaving him feeling a little unfulfilled. He shook himself to try and clear his head and focused on finishing washing his body.

He rinsed and left the shower, aware he had been in there quite a while. He dried himself quickly and donned the lingerie Hermione had picked out for him. It was much smaller and lacier than any he had worn so far and he felt more exposed. He grabbed his towel as well and held it in front of him. His excuse was that his hair was still wet and needed drying.

All the other girls had gathered in his room and were working on each other's hair and makeup. Hermione seeing him enter came over to join him. She was wearing a thong a strapless bra. Harry blushed heavily at the sight of her approaching him.

Hermione gave him a twirl to show her lingerie off. "Like it?"

"You look amazing." Harry tried not to stare at her cleavage and the soft curve of her butt.

"You took your time in there."

Harry flushed further and clammed up.

Hermione noticed. "Oh, did something happen in there? Something you don't want to admit to?"

Harry managed to flush further somehow.

"Oh." Hermione smiled and leant closer. "You went in there to shower... right after I told you what I would be wearing when you finished... you weren't 'exploring' yourself were you?"

Harry really didn't want this to continue and backed up slowly, trying to find the door to the bathroom. He missed it and Hermione moved across slightly to block another attempt.

"Did you enjoy touching yourself?" She asked very quietly.

Harry, shocked, nodded slightly in reflex without realising it.

"That's good." Hermione graced him with a gentle smile. "Did you orgasm?"

"Uhh. No." Harry replied quietly. There seemed to be little point in hiding anything else from the girl who knew him better than anyone else.

"Did it stop feeling good or did the intense feelings scare you?" Hermione was whispering now.

"I got scared." Harry confessed.

"That's okay. It took me a few attempts before I could take it that far myself." Hermione's words surprised him, he never thought she would ever be so open with him.

"Just remember to stop if it stops feeling good, you can hurt yourself if you don't. And keep some good thoughts in mind. That's important." Hermione continued.

Harry nodded. "Umm, can I ask you something?"

"Of course. I'm not just going to give you a demonstration but if you want some techniques..."

Harry palmed his face in embarrassment. "No, not that. I was wondering why now? Why am I starting to feel these thing now."

"Did you ever do that sort of thing as a guy?" Hermione asked.

Harry shock his head. "Not really. Privacy, no real urges. I never really got the chance to try. I'd heard about it, but guy's don't really talk about that sort of thing."

Hermione stopped and thought hard. "You suffered a lot at the Dursley's growing up which could have stunted your development so it's possible its only recently that your body developed enough to want to do such things."

"Late developer was I?"

Hermione nodded. "This gender change would have thrown your body into turmoil. Emotionally and physically. Most of the urges we experience are a combination of these things. I think the damage you mind took last year would have hampered things too.

"I think that with your mind healing and your body settling from these changes, and plenty of fantasy material." Hermione gave a slight nod to the girls in the room. "I think that these urges are returning. Stronger if anything since you are more healed than you were then."

"So, this is normal?" Harry actually looked happy. "I'm actually experiencing something normal, ignoring the girl's body I'm stuck in at the moment."

Hermione actually giggled. "Yes, these are normal things you're feeling. Enjoy them."

Hermione turned to leave but not before tossing a parting shot over her shoulder. "I don't mind if you think of me while you do so. You've been a fantasy of mine for a while."

Harry stared after the brunette in shock as she return to the others.

"What was that about?" Tracy asked. "He looked pretty embarrassed."

Hermione shook her head. "You'll have to ask him, but I'd wait. It's pretty personal."

"This sucks." Daphne complained, surprising everyone. "Sorry, I was just meaning that Hermione already has this really close relationship with Harry. He can share things with her that can't with us."

"It works both ways too." Hermione told her. "There are something that I can tell Harry, however hard it is, that we're not close enough to share just yet."

Daphne nodded sadly. "That doesn't make it easy at all. You have five years of history with him. A pretty intense history from what we've seen. We have a lot of catching up to do. I don't notice it most of the time, you both make us all so welcome, but it's obvious at times like this."

Ginny nodded. "Even I'm far behind you, my own fault for how I saw him, but I was a kid."

"Sorry." Hermione ducked her head.

"Don't be." Susan told her firmly. "Harry needed someone and it happened to be you. We could all have tried to be closer to him, but we didn't. Don't apologise for being the friend he needed. And don't apologise to us for our mistakes."

"Thanks." Hermione perked up a little.

"Come on. We need to get ready and we haven't started on Harry yet." Daphne brightened the mood.

"True." Hannah said. "If you give me a minute to finish your hair we can work on his together."

"Okay." Daphne smiled happily at her Hufflepuff friend.

Hannah finished fixing Daphne's hair and the two dragged Harry over to sit on the bed and attacked his hair, alternating between drying and styling until they were satisfied with how it looked. Harry just sat there, clutching at the towel protectively, trying not to stare at the two scantily clad bodies as they worked around him. Especially as their sexy bra covered breasts were frequently only an inch in front of his nose. Hannah may not have been as well endowed as Daphne but they were still full and equally beautiful in Harry's opinion.

After they finished they moved on to help Hermione while Tracy and Susan started on his makeup. He protested at first but a stern glared and order to sit still from Tracy kept him in place.

"Don't worry." Susan assured him. "We're only putting a little on. No one will notice."

"I really don't like this." Harry hadn't entirely given up his protests. "I'm still a guy here."

"With breasts like yours? Really?" Tracy teased him. "Now keep still or you'll end up looking like a clown."

The threat of looking worse kept Harry still and, after an excessively long time for 'only a little' they stepped back and told him he was done.

"Go look in the mirror and let us know what you think." Susan gave him a little push towards the bathroom.

Harry was a little curious, as much as he objected to being done up, and headed to look in the mirror. He was shocked as he caught the sight of his own reflection. He almost didn't recognise himself. The red-haired girl looking back at him was incredibly beautiful. Her hair was done in an immaculate braid. He barely noticed the makeup, it brought out his eyes and features wonderfully. He found himself blushing at the vision of beauty reflected back at him.

Leaving the bathroom and returning to the main room was saw everyone one looking at him, waiting to hear what he thought.

"I'm not sure what to say." Harry said quietly.

"Do you like it?" Susan asked.

Harry nodded, not wanting to admit it vocally.

"Great." Susan smiled happily.

"You do look beautiful." Hermione looked him over.

Harry flushed further and his armed covered himself reflectively.

Hermione only smiled and came over to catch one of his hands and pull him towards the group.

"We need to finish getting dressed." She said.

They all nodded.

Perfume came next. Harry was glad they picked a very light fragrance for him. Not too feminine. Harry didn't have any jewellery and the items they had bought for the protection charms were still with the goblins but he was lent a pair of necklaces, one from Hermione and one from Padma. They were different pieces but they worked well together and he was told that they would complement his dress.

Then they dressed. Starting with the shoes.

Harry did the straps of the heeled shoes they picked for him. He had the lowest heels of the group and they were wider too so it would be much easier for him to walk and dance in. Finally Padma brought his dress over and she and Ginny helped him put it on, settled it properly and did up the zip.

"You make an incredibly beautiful woman, Harry." Ginny complemented.

"Thanks, I think." Harry replied.

The girls laughed lightly.

"You may be a beautiful woman at the moment, Harry, but I, we, still see the young man who has fought Basilisk's, Dragons and Dark Lords." Daphne reassured him. "We don't see you as being less of a man because of this."

"Exactly." Ginny said. "So please accept my complements. Don't think I'm making fun of you or think less of you when I'm being serious like this."

"Okay." Harry nodded. "Sorry. Thank you."

Harry finally looked around the assembled girls. He had not been looking at them directly during the whole process of preparing themselves for the evening ahead due to his own embarrassment and their lack of dress. Their swimwear was one thing but their lingerie of choice was something else.

Now they were fully dresses and he felt like he was seeing them for the first time. He was surrounded by eight beautiful angels. If he thought the transformation Hermione went through for the Yule Ball was impressive, it paled on what the girls had managed to achieve this time.

"Wow. You all look incredible. Absolutely incredible." Harry managed to say after a couple of minutes of staring.

Eight happy smiled were returned at him.

"Thank you." Hermione came and took his hand. "Come on. We need to go."

"Really?" Harry was confused. "It can't be that late already?"

Hermione offered her wrist so he could see her watch.

"Five to five? It's taken us that long?" Harry was in shock.

"Now you know how long it takes us girls to get ready." Hermione grinned at him. "Come, or we'll be late. I've packed a nice men's dress robe and everything else you'll need. You can change for start of the dancing and change back later when things loosen up a little."

Harry nodded and let Hermione lead him down the Entrance Hall.

"Umm. The floo?" Harry said hesitantly.

"Worried about your clothes?" Daphne commented, teasing him lightly. "Rather a girly reaction."

Harry shot her a glare. "I know the floo isn't the cleanest way of travelling and I have a habit of ending up on the floor whenever I try. As uncomfortable as I may be with all of this, I don't want to ruin your hard work by rolling around on the floor. Plus with the dress and shoes, I'm a little worried I won't be able to get up."

That got a laugh from the girls.

"Don't worry." Hermione managed to stifle her laughter. "We'll be on the other end to catch you."

"This floo connection is really new too, so it's clean." Ginny added. "The problem with the Burrow is that the floo is old and we can't afford to get it swept properly."

Harry nodded and looked at the floo and sighed tiredly. "Alright. Let's go."

Harry watched the girls step through the floo starting with Susan. It was just him Padma and Hannah left when it was finally his turn. He took a deep breath and gave the two girls a farewell wave and smile before calling out the destination, Bones Manor, and taking the plunge.

He tumbled out the other end into the waiting arms of Susan, Ginny and Daphne.

"Thanks." Harry told them as they helped him move clear of the fireplace. "That was my best landing yet."

Susan laughed lightly. "We are going to have to take a day and teach you how to use the floo properly. We'll even put down plenty of cushioning charms at each end for you."

"Please." Harry replied.

Padma and Hannah joined them and Susan led them through the elegant manor house. The group gave her many compliments as they traversed the halls so that when they finally reached the room that was their destination she was flushed happily.

Opening the door she led them in to the sitting room. They found the Madam Bones was already there, along with several of the Wizarding parents.

"Father." Daphne greeted her parent with a small bow.

"Hi Dad." Hannah gave her father a small wave.

Tracy just gave her father a nod and a happy smile.

"Hey." Harry greeted Kingsley, Tonks, Andy and Narcissa.

Padma looked at the group. "I'm guessing my father will be arriving soon."

Amelia nodded. "I expect him momentarily."

"May I ask why?" Mr Abbott asked. "He's not a member of the Wizengamot, is he? I know I'm not but I have also been informed by my daughter that if she stays with Harry then our family will get one so..."

"Indeed." Amelia agreed with him. "But Harry has agreed to sponsor Lord Patil to the Wizengamot."

"Ah." Mr Abbott nodded in understanding.

"But we have neglected our guest of honour, without whom none of this will be possible." Amelia smiled evilly at Harry.

Harry looked back at her warily. "If you're going to hex me, please give me some warning. I'm at a slight disadvantage in this outfit, and these shoes."

"Did you consider that I factored that into my calculations."

"I'm going to start running now." Harry started to turn.

Susan caught him before he could run. "Stop that, Aunty. Harry is uncomfortable enough with this whole evening."

"Fine." Amelia relented. "You do look very nice though Harry, and so do you Susan. The rest of you look beautiful too."

The other's added their complements, Tonks especially focusing on how 'beautiful' Harry looked, and how it made her want to 'change teams'.

Kingsley and Amelia would have chastised the young Auror but they were too busy trying not to laugh at the skilled taunts.

Harry got his own back, when Tonks asked him to give a twirl to show off his dress he did so with surprising skill and ease. The dance lessons he had taken in these heels paying off. He then challenged her to do the same. Those who knew of her balance issues immediately cracked up, putting the Metamorphmagus in her place.

Lord Patil arrived a few minutes later, led in by a house-elf. Harry and his girls had settled in and he was chatting with Andy and Narcissa. The conversation was light, until the final person arrived.

"Welcome, Lord Patil. Please, have a seat." Amelia greeted him

"Minister Bones." He gave a slight nod and sat in the single chair that was left.

Amelia address the group. "Now that we're all here, I would like to explain why I asked you all to come. What we have here is a group of significant political power. One that many other members of the Wizengamot will follow without question, members from all the established factions. This group has the appeal and political clout to attract them all. Only the die-hard supporters of the Dark Lord will not follow us, revealing themselves to us and allowing us to marginalise them."

"But only if we work a group." Lord Greengrass interjected.

"Correct." Amelia nodded. "As such, we are here to work out a game plan and agenda."

"And who is the leader of this group?" Lord Patil asked.

Amelia noticed the slight condescension in his tone.

So did Harry. "Lord Patil, while I am aware that I am contractually obligated to put you forward for a place in the Wizengamot, I signed that contract as Lord Potter, and Lord Potter only. I have no obligation to vote for you using my other titles."

Lord Patil stared at the gender altered wizard. "I apologise, Minister Bones, Lord Potter, ladies. My attitude was inappropriate. I should be more aware that the attitudes towards women in my home country are inappropriate here."

"I think they are inappropriate anywhere but I won't argue with you." Harry gave him a firm look, tapping into his power slightly to remind him that he was still a powerful wizard. "Personally, I don't care what you think, just how you act."

Lord Patil inclined his head respectfully.

Amelia favoured Harry with a smile. "There are a number of laws that need to be revoked and new laws enacted."

"I am curious about one thing though," Mr Davis asked, "why are our children here too?"

"For starters, Harry is the one with the greatest vision for the future." Lord Greengrass surprised them by answering. "It will be a long road implementing it, one that we may not live to see the end of, though I hope too. Harry and our daughters will be the ones to continue this and see it to its conclusion."

"How did he get you so involved," Mr Abbott was curious, "you're normally rigidly neutral."

"True." Lord Greengrass smiled. "But Harry asked me an interesting question. 'What have I achieved?'"

Mr Abbott looked intrigued. "That is an interesting question. One could say we have achieved much in our lives."

"But compared to our ancestors and their great achievements?"

"Ah, true. Very little then." Mr Abbott nodded in understanding. "Here we can achieve something great."

"We can help." Lord Greengrass shrugged. "Unfortunately, it will be our children who get the credit and deservedly so."

Mr Abbott considered that and nodded. "So we are helping them, as parents should."

"Correct." Amelia said. "We helping them start their path, but they are the only ones who can walk it to its completion. Interestingly, I think it's because they are a group now that they will succeed."

Harry grinned ruefully. "I know that I couldn't do it alone. They all have been a big help to me so far and I know they will continue to be."

Amelia smiled at the happy expressions that Harry's words gave the girls. "Now, there are several things we need to vote on and we need an agreed consensus amongst ourselves first. Please raise any issues or dissention now. We need to present a united front to the Wizengamot so we all need to agree on things now."

Amelia flicked her wand and a stack of folders, lying unseen on an out of the way table, floated into everyone's lap.

The folders were heavily charmed Harry decided as he opened the folder and looked at the stacks of parchments inside. There was far more than the thickness and weight of the folder suggested.

Amelia chuckled at Harry's expression. "Welcome to the other side of leadership, Harry. Paperwork.

Harry groaned. "This is why I can't do it without the combined genius of these wonderful women."

The girls laughed lightly but were touched by Harry complement and faith in them.

"It's not as bad as you think." Amelia assured him. "I'm only planning on handling the first group of parchment at the Wizengamot meeting next week. The rest are copies of the laws I have found so far that need to be reviewed further for alteration or repeal. I'm wanting your feedback on how to proceed with them."

Amelia paused and looked around, getting nods from everyone assembled.

"Right, item one. Lord Patil's bid to join the Wizengamot." Amelia stopped as she was interrupted.

"I can guess that your votes will depend on my conduct here." Lord Patil stated bluntly. "That is understandable. This meeting has already gone a different direction to what I was expecting. I was expecting to be told how to vote, not consulted. I am also impressed how you, Minister Bones, managed to retain you personal power while consulting us for advice. Not an easy thing to achieve.

"I have also been pondering Lord Potter's question about personal achievements and must admit he has a point. I would like to hear his vision before we continue."

Harry nodded. "My primary goal is to bring true equality to the Wizarding World."

"Ambitious. Why should I help?"

"I'll give you a pure business reason, since you like money so much. Equality means more people remaining in contact in the Wizarding World, more people working, etcetera. More people mean more money being spent."

Lord Patil actually pondered this point. "I hadn't expected such logic."

"The other half is less opportunities for Dark Lords to popup and drive customers away."

Lord Patil gave a nod. "That would be appreciated, though I don't deal with them directly, I do supply those who do. I get hit by the roll on effect."

"Convinced yet?" Lord Greengrass commented lightly.

"I can see certain advantages." Lord Patil admitted.

"Have you ever achieved anything great. Something that truly surpasses your ancestors?" Harry challenged him directly.

"No." Lord Patil admitted. "I have grown and enhanced their legacy but I achieved nothing 'great'."

"Few have these days." Harry replied gently. "We," he indicated himself and the girls, "wish to achieve something great. Something that will benefit everyone. We aren't doing it to be remembered in the history books but because it is the right thing to do."

"A noble desire, one that will be remembered, if successful." Lord Patil nodded. "True nobility like that is rare these days. Perhaps it shouldn't be."

"I agree." Harry looked him in the eye. "So, have I given you enough reasons?"

"I believe so. Interestingly, you've only given me reasons that would appeal to me." Lord Patil noted.

"Your point being?" Harry replied. "I don't expect you to be interested in my own reasons. I am merely giving you reasons for you to assist us."

"Fair enough." Lord Patil said.

"Since we're now all on the same page." Amelia took control of the meeting. "I would like to get through this before the event starts. First, Lord Patil, thank you for working with us. Second, Auror training. Harry's donation has provided plenty of money to get started but we need to increase the regular budget and alter the training to provide sufficient Auror's for the current crisis."

"I think we can all agree with that." Mr Davis commented. "There's a fight coming and we need to get ready for it. Let's do what needs to be done now so there is a later to worry about."

Getting agreement from all the assembled people Amelia continued. "Thank you. Kingsley will be creating an abbreviated Auror training program to get people ready to fight and provide additional manpower for the existing Auror teams."

Kingsley nodded. "I hope to have a plan in place and ready to accept people to begin training in about a month."

"So long?" Mr Abbott asked.

"Finding suitable people and devising the program will take time. If we rush it them it could cost people their lives. Moral will suffer greatly if too many people die."

"Thanks to Lord Potter's donation to provide wards to everyone we have more time than originally estimated to prepare." Amelia added. "So while haste is required, rushing isn't."

Mr Abbott nodded.

"Third..." Amelia ran the group though the short list she was planning on tackling in the Wizengamot session early next week.

The list was relatively straight forward and they all agreed on the plan of attack. Harry carefully forgot about the masses of reading to be done by handing the folders given to him and the girls to Dobby to take back to the Granger's home.

"Well, it's time to make our appearance at the celebration." Amelia stood.

Harry groaned quietly, but not quietly enough.

"It won't be that bad, Harry." Susan assured him as she and Daphne pulled him to his feet.

Harry gave her a long dry look and spoke in a matching voice. "Forgive me for being a little apprehensive given the circumstances."

Lord Greengrass chuckled. "Come now, Lord Potter. You look quite beautiful."

He found himself on the receiving end of Harry's look. "Shall we see how it looks on you?"

That got a laugh from everyone else.

Even Lord Greengrass laughed as he replied. "Another time perhaps, though I don't think I could do it the same justice as you."

"Alright, that's enough everyone." Hermione shot her infamous glare at the assembled adults. "Harry is having a hard enough time with this as is it. I won't have any of you making it harder for him."

The assembled Lords, and adults of the Wizarding World looked at the glaring muggleborn witch.

"You're right." Amelia admitted after a moment. "Harry has been thrust into a new situation and is still adjusting to his... 'condition'. We should be more respectful. I'm sorry Harry."

"I apologise too." Lord Greengrass said. "It's just so easy; but it is disrespectful to you. We should be more considerate, I don't think any of us could have handle the transformation you've been through anywhere near as well as you have."

Hermione's glared softened. Slightly. "Good. I hope I don't have to have this conversation with you again."

Hermione gently looped her arm with Harry's. "Come on, we have a party to attend. It will be easier to just hold your head up high and pretend this is nothing. Just jump in the deep end, it's where you do your best."

Harry nodded and let her led him back to the floo. He stood there staring at the flicking flames and focused, using his Occlumency to calm his mind and body.

Amelia gave him a reassuring smile on her way past. "It'll be fine Harry. I don't think that anyone would dare to mock you at the moment. Just relax and enjoy yourself."

She and Susan called out their destination and stepped through the green flames.

"Very good advice." Daphne smiled as she was escorted by her father. "We'll be right there with you too."

Harry smiled, relaxing slowing as he watched his friends step through the floo to the event.

"Come on. It's our turn." Hermione gave his hand a gentle tug as she followed Ginny to the fireplace.

Harry let himself get pulled along and followed the two Gryffindor witches into floo, Luna giving him a moment before following.

He tumbled out to be caught by the pair and held upright. A feat only possible by his increased balance from his training as he was catching himself quicker, before the two girls had to support his full weight.

"That was a little more dignified." He muttered.

Hermione and Ginny shot him smiles as they adjusted their grips on his arms to look like he was escorting them and, with Luna smiling happily next to them as she looked around, the quartet followed the other well dressed arrivals deeper into the building.

They caught up with Susan and Amelia at the door to the main hall where the arriving guests were being announced.

"I thought you might want to enter as my guest rather than be announced as yourself." Amelia suggested to Harry as they joined the them. "You will still be seen as important guests but not immediately identified as you."

Harry nodded. "Thanks. I do prefer to avoid attention where I can."

Amelia favoured him with a smile and led the five students into the hall.

Harry barely noticed the herald announced 'Minister Bones and guests'. He was too busy looking around the massive hall with elegant decorations and trimming enhancing beauty of the old architectural styling.

Hermione and Ginny gently pulled him forward forcing him to stop looking around and pay attention to his feet and they headed down the stairs to the room's floor. Susan gave her aunt a smile and a slight bow and headed off in a different direction, leading her friends away from the crowd of dignitaries who were discretely vying for the Minister of Magic's attention.

"Pack of vultures." Susan grumped. "I won't see Aunty until after dinner. If I'm lucky."

"You've got us at least." Harry reassured her.

Susan gave him a brilliant smile. "Thanks. Come on, let's find the others."

"I've spotted Daphne and Tracy already." Luna nodded her head to the side subtly.

They looked in the indicated direction and soon spotted their two Slytherin friends having been waylaid by Pansy Parkinson, who was obviously complaining excessively about something, and Millicent Bulstrode standing silently to the side.

Their stances were as they were at Hogwarts, only their newfound familiarity with the two girls allowed them to see just how much they hated the position they were in.

"I can't tell if they want to run, scream or hex Parkinson." Harry commented.

"Either they can't make up their minds or they want to do all three at once." Hermione suppressed a chuckle.

"I really want to help, but we'll only make things worse for them." Ginny grimaced a little.

Harry nodded. "If they can escape, we'll hide them."

"Maybe a distraction so they can escape?" Hermione offered.

"Good idea, but I can't think of anything that won't have her causing a riot." Ginny replied.

"What's this?" A voice behind them surprised them. "Wanting to cause a riot?"

They spun round to see an amused Narcissa standing behind them.

"Don't do that." Harry growled clutching his chest his shock.

"Sorry, My Lord." Narcissa teased.

Harry gave her a dry glare. She merely smiled serenely back.

"We were trying prevent a riot." Hermione explained. "Daphne and Tracy are trapped by Parkinson and we were trying to think of a way to rescue them without Parkinson causing a fuss."

"You could distract her." Harry suddenly grinned evilly at Narcissa. "I'm sure she would like to talk to you about your late son."

Narcissa glared at him. "Now that's just cruel. I can't stand that little harpy, though she was perfect for Draco I would have hated to have to call her family."

"Perfect for Malfoy?" Ginny asked.

"Could you think of two people who deserved each other more?"

Ginny considered and nodded in agreement.

Narcissa turned her attention back to Harry. "You're not going to make me go over there are you?"

Harry smiled. "Punishment for surprising me like that."

Narcissa glared at him. "As you wish, my very pretty Lady."

"Yes, I may be uncomfortable like this, but I can admit that they made me look beautiful." Harry replied calmly.

Narcissa pouted briefly before she composed her features and gave a quick curtsey. "My Lord. I shall go do your bidding and sacrifice myself for you honour."

"Thanks, though a little melodramatic." Harry grinned at her.

Narcissa turned her nose up at him but had a teasing glint in her eyes. She turned headed over towards the group of Slytherins. She didn't have to do anything. As soon as Pansy saw her she practically jumped on her and bombarded her with questions.

Daphne and Tracy took the offered chance and fled. They worked through the crowds until they joined Harry and the other. Padma had spotted them partway and joined them.

Hannah had found the group in the mean time so, with the two Slytherin hiding behind the group and Padma the group had reassembled. Hannah had been delayed by bumping into Neville and had managed to free him from his Grandmother. He was now standing next to Luna, who was happily holding his hand under the pretext that she might get lost in the crowd.

As such, he was now slightly flushed. Both from the contact with Luna, who was looking very pretty, and the sight of his dorm mate now looking equally pretty and very busty.

"So, uh, um, how are you doing, Harry?" Neville was trying to both look at and not look at Harry at the same time.

"I'm doing okay, all things considered." Harry replied.

"Any progress on getting turned back?"

"Some, for short periods only. Nothing permanent yet."

"Oh. Umm."

"Neville, you can look at me." Harry told the blushing boy. "I won't be hurt or offended."

"Yeah, but we shared a dorm for five years and now you've got..." Neville trailed of, blushing more.

"Lots of cleavage." Luna finished for him.

"Uh, yeah." Neville was now bright red. "What's going to happen when school starts?"

"I'll be in a different room." Harry replied. "McGonagall is organising it."

Neville nodded. "Might be a little awkward otherwise."

That got a few laughs.

"How has your summer been?" Hermione asked.

"Good." Neville smiled. "Gran was so impressed by me fighting Death Eaters at the Ministry that she got me my own wand and got my uncle, who's an Unspeakable, to train me. I won't be so useless next time."

"You weren't useless last time." Harry assured him. "You did just as well as the rest of us."

Neville didn't seem convinced, but did seem a little more perky.

They had been chatting for a while when they were interrupted by Arthur Weasley.

"Excuse me." He caught their attention. "Might I have a word with my daughter for a minute?"

Harry looked at Ginny, he wasn't going to make her decision for her.

Ginny nodded and followed her father a short distance away.

"How are you doing?" He asked her. "Look you beautiful."

"Great, thank you." Ginny smiled. "This really is the best summer ever."

"I'm glad to hear it." Arthur smiled, relieved. "Are Harry and Hermione doing equally as well?"

Ginny nodded.

"That's good. You could all use a good summer after the year you had."

"My year was nothing compared to Harry's." Ginny grimaced.

"I'm sure." Arthur didn't look happy either. "I don't know everything, but I don't like what I do know."

Ginny's grimace deepened. "That's only the beginning."

Ginny shook off her mood. "How's Mum and Ron doing?"

"They're good. Ron's treatment is helping. Molly's fussing over him a lot; it helps keep her mind off you not being there."

Ginny shrugged looking a little disgruntled. "I've been smothered enough by her. I have to grow up now. Something she won't allow."

"She's just trying to protect you." Arthur knew his words were weak.

"She can't protect me from 'Them'." Ginny stared her father down. "I'm probably better in a fight now than she is."

"I'm guessing you're getting some special training thanks to Minister Bones." Arthur said. "I thought that you came with Harry as his guests but Minister Bones invited you directly didn't she?"

"Well, it was Susan who told us on her Aunt's behalf, but yes." Ginny confirmed.

"She and Harry seem to be working well together." Arthur commented.

"They have similar ideals and she isn't interested in getting Harry to support her. Instead she's doing the job properly. Harry respects that and is happy to help." Ginny explained.

Arthur nodded. "I agree. I had thought that it would be Albus Dumbledore who would lead us to victory but it seems it'll be Minister Bones and Harry upon whom our hopes rest."

"More than you know." Ginny saddened. "Dumbledore knew it would fall to Harry a long time ago, but has done nothing to help him."

"Albus has always done his best to protect him." Arthur protested.

"He locked Harry away in a prison." Ginny countered. "Harry needed training and Dumbledore did nothing."

Arthur looked uncomfortable, he knew he couldn't argue that point.

"Is that all? I'd like to rejoin my friends." Ginny stated.

Arthur nodded. "Alright, have a good evening. Love you."

Ginny smiled and gave her father a hug. "Love you too Dad."

Ginny returned to her friends and settled in between Daphne and Hermione to rejoin the conversation.

They were called into dinner a little while later and managed to secure a table together to enjoy a pleasant meal. There were several speeches that seemed endless so Harry didn't bother to listen, relying on Hermione to nudge him when something important was said. Which wasn't often. Amelia managed to keep Harry off the podium, to his eternal relief.

Finally the portion of the evening the girls were waiting for arrived. The dancing. Harry and Hermione disappeared for a while to allow Harry to change both his gender and his clothing.

In the private room, with Hermione helping, he stripped off the dress and lingerie. Hermione was about to remove his makeup but paused.

"Harry, try shifting back now." She suggested.

Harry looked at her, confused.

"I'm wondering if the makeup and hair-style will remain or stay with you female form." Hermione explained.

Harry looked interested. "I try, but can I put my pants on first? Being naked in front of you as a girl is one thing, but being a guy?"

Hermione blushed slightly but passed his male clothing over. Harry pulled it on loosely and focused. Hermione watched as her best friend and sort-of-husband's body flowed into his male form.

"Well?" Harry asked.

Hermione looked him over. "Make-up free. You might want to remove the necklaces though."

Harry pulled them off and handed them over then finished dressing and made himself presentable while Hermione carefully put the dress and lingerie in her small bag.

"How do I look?" He asked when he was finished.

"Great, very handsome." Hermione smiled as she looked him over. "You might want some shoes though."

Harry grinned and complied. "If there's nothing else, may I escort milady to the ball?"

Hermione's face lit up. "You may, good sir."

Hermione took his arm and let him escort her back to the others.

As a red haired girl Harry attracted little attention, other than the fact that he was a beautiful and busty girl. As the Harry Potter everyone recognised, he was immediately the centre of attention.

"Oh great." Harry muttered as he forced himself to plaster a smile on his face for the fawning crowd.

Hermione heard him. "I know. Just take me to the dance floor. After we dance I'll swap with someone we trust and organise the others to keep you safe." She told him quietly as she too forced a pleasant smile to her lips.

"Thanks." Harry replied as he followed her advice.

On the dance floor they joined in with the other couples. Having the dance lessons with the girls over the last few days and his increased awareness of his own body and balance from his training, he was now able to relax on the dance floor and enjoy having Hermione in his arms.

Their bodies flowed to the music and they ignored their surroundings, interested only in each other. They were both surprised and disappointed when the music finished at the end of the song.

Hermione glanced around and saw Amelia approaching.

"May I steal Lord Potter away for a dance?" Amelia asked her politely.

Hermione smiled. "You may, Minister Bones. But just for one dance; he has a rather full dance card."

Amelia's lips quirked in humour at the condition and stepped up to Harry as the music began.

"You dance very well." Amelia smiled as they moved together in time to the song.

"Thanks, but the real thanks go to the girls." Harry smiled. "They gave me lots of lessons."

"You seem to have quite the connection with them. When you danced with Hermione you both seemed lost in each other. I imagine there will be more stories about a romance between the two of you."

"I wonder what will happen if the same thing happens with the others?" Harry looked a little worried.

"There's nothing you can do about it." Amelia told him. "Just do your best to give them all a good time tonight."

"You're right. Thanks, Minister Bones."

Amelia glared at him a little. "Call me Amelia. We are practically family, sort of anyway."

"Thank you." Harry smiled happily.

"My pleasure." Amelia smiled back.

They danced for a while longer chatting lightly.

"It looks like the song is about to end." Amelia looked a little disappointed. "I shall deliver you back into the hands of your ladies."

"Thanks." Harry was very grateful.

The song ended and Harry found Amelia being replaced by smiling Susan.

"You look really handsome Harry." Susan told him as she stepped into his arms as the music started again.

"Thanks. You're really beautiful too."

Susan blushed slightly and the two became lost in the music.

Susan handed him over to Ginny. Ginny was followed by Daphne and Daphne was followed by her mother of all people, mother and daughter trading partners to allow Daphne and her father a chance together.

Harry danced with each of the girls in turn, intermittently finding an unexpected person in the mix, mostly the mothers of the girls who had attended. The real surprise was Millicent Bulstrode who somehow managed to sneak in. For a big girl she was surprisingly graceful.

"Not that I mind, you're a good dancer, but why?" Harry asked.

"I wanted to." Millicent shrugged. "You're a good dancer too."

"Thanks." Harry replied. "But that's not the reason, is it?"

"True." Millicent admitted before being silent for a while. "I've known Daphne and Tracy for years but I've never seen them so expressive. That's something you've brought out of them. I wanted to see how you managed it."

"If you find out, let me know." Harry grinned. "But seriously, they're just being themselves rather than hiding."

"But you got them to stop hiding." Millicent studied him. "How did you become their friend? I thought you hated Slytherins."

"Truthfully I only hated Slytherins as a childish reflex. My real problem was with Malfoy, then Crabbe and Goyle. You and Parkinson got caught up in it since you were so close to him." Harry explained. "Tracy and Daphne made the first move and we just went from there."

Millicent studied him. "That's a fair answer. Could this be considered my first move?"

"Sure. You're much nicer than I expected. This person I'm dancing with could be a friend. I've no reason not to like her." Harry gave her a gentle smile.

Millicent smiled back, suddenly looking pretty. "Thank you. I think I can see why they like you now. You really are a Gryffindor though."

"You have no idea." Harry grinned ruefully.

Millicent chuckled lightly. "So you are friends with both Greengrass and Davis. Interesting. I could use that against you."

Harry's faced hardened. "If anything happens to then because of your actions, you will experience exactly why Voldemort can't beat me."

Millicent gulped in fear. This wizard had gone from a friendly person to a powerful opponent. She finally saw the reason why Harry was being hyped as the wizard who would defeat Voldemort.

"I promise, I won't do anything that might get them hurt." Millicent said firmly.

Harry suddenly became the friendly teenage she had forced to dance with her. "Thank you."

Millicent enjoyed the rest of their dance. She found the Gryffindor to be a friendly person who was easy to get on with. Straight forward and honest, things that don't survive Slytherin. Still, she found out nothing about him, none of her careful questions or directed conversation revealed anything about him. The was more Slytherin in him than she would ever have guessed.

They finished their dance and she chuckled as he was quickly pulled away by Hannah for his next dance.

"Your opinion?" Daphne surprised her.

Millicent looked round to see both her dorm mates. "He's more than I expected. We never saw who he was did we?"

"No."

"I will not act against him." Millicent told them. "I was never planning too. I dislike how Slytherin are looked down on by the other Houses. Perhaps we can get some acceptance now, and make some real friends. Plus, me dancing with him will take some of the pressure of you two. I always did prefer your company anyway."

"That would be good." Tracy smiled. "See you at Hogwarts."

Millicent nodded and headed off.

Harry soon headed off with Hermione to change, unable to support his male form for much longer. Hermione was a little jealous. After changing back his hair was just as they had styled it, he only needed his makeup touched up a little and he was ready to return to the party.

The dancing had relaxed, so after a chance to rest and let his feet recover, he was dragged out by the girls to dance with them in a group. He had to fight of a few male advances but mostly they backed off after he said "No". Only one refused to take the hint, until an inappropriate hand was placed in a simple wrist lock. He left pretty quickly after that.

It was very late, or very early, when they left. Harry wasn't sure what time they eventually returned home, but he did enjoy his time there.

!HPEaSE!

Jennifer Simons appeared atop the hill near her home. As a low level Ministry worker she was lucky to get to go to that nights celebration. She was glad she did get to go though, she hadn't managed to actually meet the boy-who-lived but she had danced next to him and got to see him up close. He was a handsome young man.

She walked down the hill and through an alleyway between the houses opposite her own home. She stopped suddenly as she reached the far end. Something was wrong. All the lights in the street were out. Looking around she saw other lights were on so it wasn't a power cut.

Looking around carefully she saw movement across the road. Someone in dark robes was hiding in the darkness. She panicked and immediately Apparated away.

!HPEaSE!

Bellatrix Lestrange swore as she heard the crack of someone Apparating away. They had failed. The Dark Lord wouldn't be pleased. They had to find her; they had limited options to get the information they desired and this would be the easiest target. They would have to hunt her down.

"Begin tracking her. Get Greyback in case she runs between Apparating." She ordered.

The Death Eater's accompanying her jumped to obey, each hoping to avoid being the victim of her anger.

!HPEaSE!

Harry rolled into his bed. He had carefully hung up his dress, actually liking it now after his enjoyable evening. He had changed into a singlet and boxers for comfort and, following Hermione's strict instructions, washed his face to remove all the make-up.

Harry lay there enjoying the memories of the evening, waiting for sleep to claim him when he heard the door open.

"Hello?" He sat up.

The room was too dark to make out his visitor. The person reached to foot of the bed and climbed on and make their way towards him. Harry was a little curious, he felt no threat from this person, a girl from what he could make out from the shape of their body. He got nervous when she moved up next to his head.

He focused on his wand next to the bed. "Lumos."

The wand lit up but the girl had straddled his head and flipped her night dress over his head, blocking out the light.

"Uh." Harry started.

"Don't move, Harry. Just watch." She whispered.

As the light filtered through the fabric of the girl's night dress, Harry could just make out the shape of her womanhood between her legs. Her hands lifted the back of the fabric slightly and slid underneath. They gently cupped her body and Harry found himself unable to do anything but stare as her fingers began working her crotch gently.

Harry heard the girl begin to moan gently as she pleasured herself, her finger's movements changing to match her level of stimulation. Harry, his eyes having adjust to the low level of light better, noticed a dampness begin forming on her lips and the fingers on one hand gently parted them and slid between them to begin disappearing inside her.

The pleasant, but distinctive, odour of her juices reached Harry's nose and he even felt a few drops land on his chin as the girl's moans strengthened and deepened into cries of pleasure. Her fingers worked faster and faster. One hand left the confines of the nightdress as she leant forward to use the wall to support her.

The girl's cries grew stronger and harsher as she panted from her exertions until her whole body shuddered and she nearly screamed her release. She slumped against the wall panting to regain her breath.

"Taste me?" She asked quietly.

Her fingers lightly touched his lips and he tentatively licked at the liquid coating them. It was unlike anything he had tasted before. He tasted it again and found the taste to actually be pleasant. He licked at her fingers a couple more times until he sucked the damp fingers insider his mouth to get as much of her as he could. She surprised him by moaning lightly.

After a minute she freed her fingers and shifted aside. Harry was hoping to see who the girl was but she reached for his wand and shut off the light and slid it into a draw.

"Now, it's your turn." She told him.

She cast the covers back and pulled his boxers down. Harry was too startled to respond at his sudden exposure.

She lifted his top slightly and placed a few kisses on his stomach as her hands gently moved his legs apart and slid between them.

Harry gasped at the sensations caused by her fingers stroking him and he felt his body unconsciously leaning into them. He found moans escaping him as her fingers pleasured him. When her fingers parted his lips he half sat in surprise a cry escaping his throat.

"Shh. It's okay." The girl told him gently. "Just relax."

Harry obeyed and felt the new experience of someone else gently exploring the most intimate part of his body. He gasped as her fingers gently began working inside him, slowing sliding deeper and deeper.

Harry cried out in pleasure at her slowly firming motions, intense feelings building inside him. Soon, too soon, they became too much for him to bear.

"Stop. Please." Harry tried to pull away.

"It's okay. Come here." Her fingers stopped but didn't retreat. Instead she gently pulled him up with her free hand and held his head to her breasts. "Hold me close, I'll protect you."

Harry clung to her tightly, using the warm of her body and the softness of her breasts to protect him from the overwhelming intense feelings caused by her fingers as they resumed their motions.

Harry was panting too much to release any real cries of pleasure. The girl held him closer, protectively, as she built the sensations further until Harry felt them explode inside his body.

He cried out, his body shuddering as the rampant feelings coursed through him. Gradually they ebbed until he was left, shaking, only held up by the arm around him.

The girl gently removed her fingers and Harry saw the faint silhouette as she brought them to her lips and tasted Harry's juices.

"Mmm. You taste wonderful." She whispered before sucking them clean.

Her other hand gently stroked Harry's hair. When she had finished cleaning her fingers she wiped them dry on the sheets and pulled away slightly. Her hands moved to Harry's face and wiped away tears Harry didn't even know he had released.

She kissed him gently and moved to whisper in his ear. "I had a wonderful evening. Thank you. I love you, Harry."

With that, the still unidentified girl fled the room.

Harry sat in shock as his bedroom door closed behind the girl. The noise startled him back to his senses and he hurriedly rolled out of bed and dashed for the door. He yanked it open to find the corridor empty. There was no sign the girl had ever been there.

Harry closed the door and returned to bed, suddenly aware that he was bare from the waist down. He pulled on his boxers and got back under the covers. That experience was so far beyond anything he had previously he could barely believe it had actually happened. Sleep would be a long time coming.


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

And here is the next chapter in this double instalment.

**Chapter 23**

No one was up early that morning. It was Saturday and they all took advantage of that to sleep in as much as possible.

Harry was the last to awaken. His late night visitor had sent his mind into turmoil, in more ways than one. It was her final words that had had the most impact though. As such, his odd mood was noticeable to the others.

"Are you alright Harry?" Ginny asked. "You seem really distracted."

"I'm okay." Harry replied. "I'm just thinking about something from last night."

"The party?" Daphne queried. "I had a really great time."

The others agreed.

"It's not about the party, though I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed it myself." Harry said.

"Then what is it?" Hannah probed gently.

Harry blushed.

"Did something else happen?" Susan questioned softly. "Something you're embarrassed about?"

Harry nodded. "One of you knows about it. At least I hope it's one of you. Someone visited me last night and I hope it wasn't some stranger. I'd be a little worried about that."

"Yeah." Tracy looked a little scared.

"What happened?" Hannah was looking interested.

Harry turned bright red. "I'd rather not say, please don't ask more. But, before she left, she said something that got to me more than everything else."

"What did she say?" Hermione asked.

"She told me she loved me." Harry whispered, looking down. "That's my first memory of someone telling me that. So thank you, whoever it was."

The girls exchanged looks, but the girl in question didn't reveal herself.

"I think you've been given a wonderful memory to treasure, Harry." Hermione told him.

"Should I say something back?" Harry asked.

"Umm, no. I don't think so." Hermione told him. "You don't really understand love yet, do you?"

Harry shook his head sadly. "Not really, but I know it's really special."

"It is, which is why you should wait until you are sure about your feelings to her, and each of us, before telling us." Hermione explained gently. "That will make it really special for us too, because we know you will truly mean it."

Harry looked around the girls faces and saw them all agreeing with Hermione's words.

"Take your time, Harry." Daphne added. "We know we're precious to you. That's enough until you're ready for more."

"Thanks." Harry replied quietly, dashing at his face to hide the tears leaking from his eyes at their kind words.

Luna wrapped an arm around his waist and snuggled into his side. "I love you big sis. I love my big brother too."

Harry chucked and hugged her back. "Thanks Luna, little sis."

Luna smiled brightly.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Tracy changed the subject.

"Fun and relaxation I think." Harry answered. "I don't think any of us are too interested in doing much work today."

"No, I think we deserve a day off too." Hermione agreed.

"Hermione? Taking a day off?" Harry looked at his friend in shock. "Are you alright?"

"NO!" She glared back at him. "I've spent too much time around you and your laziness. I think it's proving contagious."

That had everyone laughing. They returned to their rooms and changed into their swimwear and headed out to the pool. The entire day was spent laughing and playing. Just being kids.

!HPEaSE!

"Where were you?" Parvati demanded. "How did you manage to get to that Ministry party?"

Padma had only just stepped out of the floo when she was bombarded by questions from her twin sister.

"I was invited." Padma stated.

"You got to dance with Harry Potter too, had he improved since the Yule Ball?"

"Yes, actually." Padma smiled at the memory. "He's quite good now."

"Lucky you. He barely managed to avoid my feet back then." Parvati pouted.

"He's actually learnt how to dance since then." Padma grinned at her sister.

Parvati grumped. "Where have you been disappearing to?"

Padma just grinned as she left the room, enjoying having something over her sister.

!HPEaSE!

Sunday was the return to their study and training. Harry was wanting to visit the Gaunt house and as such was focusing on his Warding, Ward Breaking and Duelling. Animagus training and study was added into the mix but were not his primary focus for this week.

There was one hitch though. They had a couple of unexpected visitors. Parvati, accompanied by Lavender, had managed to follow Padma through the floo and the three tumbled out in a heap on the floor of the Entrance Hall.

"Damn it Parvati." Padma exploded at her. "You couldn't leave well enough alone, could you."

"Pad?" Parvati was shocked. Her sister had never gotten so angry at her before. Ever.

"Stay here!" Padma ordered. "If you try and leave, you won't like what happens to you."

Parvati and Lavender shared a glance as Padma stormed off.

They stood and started to follow but were stopped by a massive skeletal snake shooting out of the shadows in front of them. They screamed and fell back towards the fireplace. The snake followed but only a little. It stayed there, staring at the pair of cowering girls.

Padma stormed into the hedged courtyard they used for studying in. "I'm really, really sorry but my sister and Lavender followed me here."

"It's not your fault." Hermione replied. "You warned us that those two would probably pay us a surprise visit."

"Should we allow them to stay or just send them home?" Harry asked.

"I hate to say it but she is just going to persist until she gets what she wants." Padma said. "She can really only bother me though so you don't have to worry too much."

"And here I was thinking we could use them for sparring partners." Harry replied innocently.

Padma laughed, cheering up immensely.

"We could let the Gossip Queens visit. It is Sunday." Ginny offered. "Just as long as they keep everything quiet."

"Yes, we don't want them telling everyone about what happens here. I really don't think Hermione wants her choice of swimwear spread around school." Tracy teased her Gryffindor friend.

"I was thinking that we could force them to wear something similar if they want to visit." Hermione shot back.

That had everyone laughing.

"I don't mind lending mine to my twin." Padma offered.

"I think Winky could duplicate them easily enough." Daphne suggested. "They won't be permanent but they should last the day, and the original won't be damaged."

"It's that a little cruel?" Hannah asked. "Hermione's the only one comfortable wearing a bikini that small."

"True, but it would stop them from gossiping about it." Susan answered. "And it would lessen the frequency of their visits."

"Until they get used to it." Hermione finished. "You might as well let them in."

Harry nodded. "Okay."

He stood and left, heading for the Entrance Hall. Hermione followed, grabbing her towel to wrap around her body.

They entered the Hall to find Sally towering over a huddled mass. Walking closer, Harry finally managed to resolve the mass into the frightened bodies of his year mates, Parvati and Lavender.

"It's okay Sally, you can let them go. They can't pass through on their own but Padma can give permission." Harry instructed the snake.

Sally nodded and returned to the shadows at the far end of the room.

"You two okay." Harry looked the two girls over.

They nodded and managed to stand on shaky legs after several attempts.

"Uh, hello." Lavender managed to speak first. "Sorry about just barging in like this."

"Yeah, we just wanted to know where Padma was going." Parvati added.

"It's not my home you barged in on." Harry replied.

"Oh, is it yours then?" Parvati noticed Hermione standing further back.

Hermione nodded.

"I'm Parvati Patil, Padma's twin sister. This is Lavender Brown, my friend from school." Parvati introduced herself politely.

Hermione and Harry exchanged a look and burst out laughing. Harry waved for the two girls to follow them, still laughing.

Parvati and Lavender followed warily, unsure at the behaviour of these two strange girls. They followed the laughing pair outside into an obviously muggle backyard in a muggle neighbourhood. They were led onto a gravel path lined with tall hedges and ended up in a private courtyard with a number of familiar faces.

"Hi Ginny." Parvati greeted the younger Gryffindor. "Susan, Hannah, Luna."

Lavender added her greetings. "What is everyone doing here? With two Slytherins?"

"Studying." Daphne answered.

"Then why didn't you invite Granger?"

That got a number of confused looks.

"Who did you think that was?" Tracy asked.

Parvati and Lavender turned to look at the two girls who had escorted them. The redhead they still couldn't place but the brunette, now they were in the bright sunlight, was familiar.

"Granger?" Parvati was shocked to see her normally prim and proper roommate only barely covered.

"Yes?" Hermione unwrapped the towel and returned it to her deckchair.

All further comment from the girls was stopped as the saw just how uncovered the studious Witch actually was.

"Umm." Lavender managed. "What are you wearing?"

"It's called a bikini." Hermione suppressed a grin. "Haven't you seen one before?"

"Not that small."

"You'll get used to it." Daphne grinned evilly.

"Oh?" Lavender looked at the Slytherin.

Daphne waved some fabric towards them in each hand. "Yours, it's what you'll be wearing while you're here."

"You expect us to dress like that?" Parvati demanded.

"Of course." Susan added her evil grin to the mix.

"Why do we have to, you aren't"

"We were invited." Susan gave her simple answer.

The two girls gulped.

"Why are you doing this?" Parvati asked quietly.

"Punishment to protect our privacy against uninvited guests." Padma had returned from getting changed into her own swimsuit. "It's this or being our sparring partners."

Parvati saw her sister's much more modest choice and protested. "You get to wear that? Why do we have to wear something so small?"

"Because you just barged in here uninvited." Padma glared back.

"You two don't have the best reputation for keeping things quiet." Harry answered quietly.

"And you are?" Parvati demanded.

Harry focused his power. It's sudden presence practically knocked the two girls off their feet. "Someone who isn't playing around."

Parvati stared at the girl in fear at the display of power she gave, trying to identify her.

The green eyes were the clue. "Harry? Harry Potter."

Harry relaxed and smiled, his power subsiding. "Correct."

"Oh, well, um, you make a pretty girl at the moment." Parvati rambled in shock.

"Thanks." Harry replied dryly. "Would you care to change now?"

"It's the only way we'll find out what's going on isn't it?" Parvati half questioned, half stated.

"You'll learn some of it." Harry answered. "But you'll have to keep it too yourselves. ALL of it!"

Parvati and Lavender shared a look. "Okay, do we still have to wear that?"

"Yes." Padma stated. "Until we agree otherwise. It is a punishment after all."

Parvati grumped and held her hand out for the offered bikini. "Where do we change?"

"The room we came through to get outside should offer you enough privacy." Harry suggested.

Parvati left, followed by Lavender after she grabbed her own bikini.

"Incredible." Padma said after the scrunching of shoes on gravel ended. "Their need to know outweighs their modesty."

Harry got Winky to setup a new pair of deckchairs, complete with towels for their 'guests'. Parvati and Lavender return a few minutes later, with only their tops on and blushing.

"Well, let's see how you look." Hermione told them.

Blushing further they pulled off their shirts to reveal the tiny bikini's underneath.

"No bad." Padma complemented. "The colours work on you."

"Yeah, whatever." Lavender growled, trying to cover herself with her arms. "Can we sit down or are we supposed to parade around like this waiting on you hand and foot?"

"Not a bad idea." Tracy commented. "Pity we didn't think of it sooner."

"Those are for you two." Hermione relented a little, indicating the chairs setup for them.

"We should warn you though." Daphne added. "Those are conjured. They should last the day but you should be careful. A stray finite may put you both in a very embarrassing situation."

Parvati and Lavender froze. "That's not very comforting."

"Perhaps you won't be so nosy next time then." Padma said pointedly.

"I guess we're going to learn our lesson then." Lavender sighed.

Surprisingly, Parvati and Lavender enjoyed their time there, once they got over their initial discomfort with the choice of bikini thrust upon them. They didn't join in the practical training but were impressed with the abilities that Harry and the girls now possessed.

The only real mishap after their arrival was when the group adjourned to the pool for the first time. They laughed as the group enjoyed jumping in and followed suit, especially after watching Hermione's jump.

Hermione's bikini stayed put. Theirs didn't.

They stood up laughing, pushing their hair back to find a very red Harry turning away and the others either blushing slightly and averting their gaze or struggling to contain their laughter. They looked down when they noticed the gazes directed at their chests and saw their inadvertent exposure. They both vanished under the water with surprising speed.

Lavender's top had only been dislodged and only took a moment to sort out. Parvati didn't seem to have tied her bikini as tightly as her top was now floating free, held by the neck strap only, and the bottom floated to the surface moments later.

Retreating to a far corner of the pool, she replaced the errant fabric and got Lavender to help her tied the straps much more firmly.

"It's not funny." Parvati protested when the pair finally rejoined the group. "How come all yours didn't fall off, especially you Hermione?"

"Sticking charm." Hermione admitted.

"And you didn't suggest that to us because?" Parvati demanded.

"I didn't think I needed to." Hermione replied innocently.

"That's actually a good idea." Daphne commented. "I've been relying on the Support charm and tying it securely. Susan?"

"The same." Susan said.

The other girls had only relied on the straps. "But we aren't as well endowed as Susan, Daphne and Harry, nor are we 'as daring' as Hermione." Hannah added.

"I've been using both the Support charm and the Sticking charm." Harry said when it became obvious they were waiting for his input. "I wanted a little extra security."

"Didn't you tell my parents you used to go topless?" Ginny teased.

Harry shrugged, unfazed. "I did. Things are a little different now."

There was no arguing that fact.

At the end of the day the Indian twins returned home.

"Did you have fun today?" Padma asked.

"Yes, despite everything, I did." Parvati replied.

"Don't think you can just visit whenever you want, we have a lot going on."

"I understand." Parvati nodded. "But, occasionally, on weekends?"

Padma nodded. "Just give me some warning first. Having you two grab me as I flooed out scared me half to death."

"Sorry about that. It's just we've never had anything hidden from each other like that before." Parvati said quietly.

"I can't tell you everything from now on." Padma told her twin. "Something's are going to be just between me and them. You aren't a part of it and, I'm sorry but you can't be."

"I understand, just don't keep me so completely out like you have been." Parvati pleaded. "Now, how did you get all that past Father?"

"He and Harry reached an agreement. Don't ask for details, I can't tell you yet anyway, but you're going to be really grateful to Harry when everything is finalised." Padma explained.

Parvati stared at her sister. "You're going to marry him aren't you? How'd you get that past Hermione and Ginny? Do they even know?"

"They know 'all' the details." Padma said. "Please don't say anything to anyone. Even Lavender. Just don't speak of it again, ever."

"Okay." Parvati assured her older twin. "Twin Secret."

Padma gave her sister a strong, grateful, hug.

!HPEaSE!

They explained their intent to visit the Gaunt house during the coming weekend to Kingsley after their duelling bout on Monday. He agreed to escort them, if he thought they were ready. Harry and the girls were intent on proving that they would be.

Bill and Fleur, their workload reducing, could visit more and aid in his Ward training. Hermione and Padma assisted as much as possible, but could not keep up with Harry's progress. They did managed to devise a way to assist his Ward Breaking efforts by 'holding' the wards as he manipulated them. This took some the strain of Harry and allowed him to work quicker and safer, since he no longer had to juggle so many things at once.

They were making astounding progress. Tonks and Hestia were a little scared by how quickly these highly motivated teenagers were improving. They were on track for being ready for the weekend's trip.

!HPEaSE!

Ann left the Police Station late after another fruitless search for the mysterious, and surprisingly elusive, Harriet Potter. Only one result seemed to come close, but even that had a single large flaw.

She had just reached her car when a man in a suit approached her.

"Officer Annabel Anderson?" He asked her.

"Yes." She replied warily. "Can I help you?"

"I need you to come with me." He told her.

"I'm a Police Officer and we're outside a Police Station." She stared him down. "Do you really think I'm just going to go with you?"

"Yes Madam, I do." He pulled out a flat wallet. "I'm with the British Secret Service. I must insist you come with me."

Ann gulped as she stared at the very official looking identification. "Yeah, I guess I will."

She followed him into a nearby car and sat there, apprehensively, as she was driven to a hotel and escorted to a room high up in the building.

"Um. Hello?" Ann looked around the room.

"You are Officer Annabel Anderson?" A man off to the side made his presence known.

"Yes." Ann studied him, he seemed pretty nondescript; but if he really was with the Secret Service then his looks were most likely deceiving.

"I apologise for this inconvenience, but we need your help." He gestured her towards a chair.

"Who is 'we'?" Ann asked.

"I have been authorised to speak to you on the behalf of the heads of both MI5 and MI6."

Ann gulped. "Do you really have the right person? MI5 'and' MI6? I'm just a Police Officer. A junior one at that."

"Yes, well, normally you wouldn't be approached. Especially for the current situation." He explained. "We need to make contact with a certain someone, someone we aren't allowed to approach ourselves. We believe you have been in contact with that person and would like you to give that person this."

He handed a card over.

"A business card?" Ann looked at the plain white card with nothing but a phone number printed on it. "All this just to deliver a phone number?"

"It may seem insignificant, and you may not be able to deliver it, but if you can then it may be the most important thing you do."

"Who do I deliver it to?"

"I can't tell you that either." The man, to his credit, seemed to realise the insanity of the situation.

"How do I deliver this to the right person if I don't know who they are?" Ann asked sarcastically.

"Yes, I do realise your predicament; and to be honest I'm not cleared that information either." The man gave her a wiry smile. "All I am able to tell you is that we believe you have already met this person recently. This person has abilities unlike anything you could believe and is in a very dangerous situation. A situation that is deadly for everyone. I think you will know who and when to hand that card over ."

"I'll do my best." Ann looked worried by that information.

"If you can't then don't worry, we have other avenues we can pursue. This would merely be the simplest method." He reassured her.

"That make me feel a little better. Someone with special abilities huh?" Ann pondered.

"It seems like you have someone in mind already." The man smiled. "Perhaps this won't be so difficult after all."

"We'll see." Ann replied. "Can I go now?"

"Of course. The Agent who escorted you here is waiting outside. He'll return you to your car."

"Thanks. Bye." Ann left the room and followed the waiting Agent back to the car.

"What a day." She muttered to herself.

The Agent next to her tossed her a grin as he opened the car door for her. "After you."

Ann was dropped off at her car and sat in it for a while, deep in thought, before heading home.

"You're really late." Kate greeted her older sister.

"Yeah, stuff came up." Ann studied her sister for a moment. "That new friend of yours, Harriet Potter, when are you going to meet her again?"

"Huh. Harry? Thursday morning training, so it's the day after tomorrow."

"I'll give you a lift, I'd like to see her again too." Ann said.

"Okay." Kate looked at her sister in surprise. "Why?"

"I honestly have no idea."

"Well, that just explains everything."

!HPEaSE!

"Jen? Is that you?" Katrina Adams opened her front door. "It's been years."

"Hi Katrina." Jen smiled tiredly. "Mind if I come in?"

"Sure, you look like crap." Katrina stepped aside. "What happened? Do you know how late it is?"

"Long story. Bad break up. Psycho ex-boyfriend. I haven't managed to get home since Saturday." Jen sank into a chair.

"You should go to the police." Katrina told her.

"Not so easy." Jen sighed.

"I'll tell you what." Katrina suggested. "You go take a shower and I let you borrow some clothes and make you something to eat. That dress may of looked great when you put it on but I think it's gotten a little worse for wear."

Jen looked over at her cousin all puppy-eyed. "You're a life safer, Kat."

"Do you want feeding?" Katrina growled.

"Sorry Katrina." Jen apologised.

John Adams, hearing voices, entered the room. "Hello?"

"Oh, this is my cousin Jen. Actually she's my second cousin or something. This is my husband John." Katrina introduced the two. She rubbed her swollen belly. "And this, we still don't have a name for yet."

"Nice to meet you." John nodded to their guest.

"She just needs somewhere safe to stay. She's having boyfriend troubles." Katrina explained to her husband. "We might need to take her to the police tomorrow."

"Ah. That sort of boyfriend trouble." John nodded in understanding. "Tomorrow's Thursday. I have my early class in the morning followed by my regular class, but we can go after that."

"We'll see." Jen said quietly. "I'm hoping it won't to come to that."

"Better safe than sorry." Katrina said. "Now follow me to the shower."

Jen nodded and followed her cousin out of the room.

!HPEaSE!

Harry was surprised to see two extra people, one of whom was pregnant, when he arrived at his Thursday morning lesson.

"Hi Sensei." He greeted his teacher, glancing warily at the audience. "Who are they?"

"My wife, Katrina, and her cousin Jen." John introduced them. "This is Harry."

The pregnant woman smiled. "So you're the young lady whose been dragging my husband out so early in the morning."

"Sorry about that." Harry apologised. "Oh, um, congratulations."

"Thank you." Katrina replied, smiling as she stroked her swollen belly. "Ever thought about when you'll have one of your own?"

Harry stopped, mouth open, unsure how to answer that. He could almost feel Tonks shaking with repressed laughter at that simple question.

"I would like a family, in a few years." He answered finally.

"Well, I hope it goes well for you. I'll get out of your way so you can begin your lesson." Katrina retreated back to join her cousin.

"Can we work on my special ability another time?" Harry asked John very quietly. "I'm just not sure about the audience."

"That's okay." John nodded. "We have enough to work on as it is. Now, show me what you've learnt so far."

Harry stepped back and readied his staff and began working through the Kata's he had been taught so far.

Kate showed up halfway through the lesson and wrapped her staff while waiting for Harry to finish practicing the new Kata he'd just learnt. Harry was surprised to notice a young woman with her, her elder sister if he remembered correctly.

"Ready?" Kate asked.

"Just a sec. Let me wrap my staff." Harry answered as he begin winding the cloth around the ends of his staff. "Why's your sister here?"

"Ann? Dunno." Kate shrugged. "I think she might want to talk to you."

"Why?"

"Mostly curiosity I think." Kate shrugged again. "She's asked a few questions about you though. I'm curious too, but I didn't want to invade your privacy."

"Thanks." Harry said gratefully. "Okay, I'm ready."

The two faced off and began their sparring. Their movements rapid and fluid as their staff's clashed together with muted thuds, except where the unpadded centre section of the staff came into play.

They looked to be evenly matched but Harry had the advantage. He was faster and just had a natural talent and fluidity that Kate lacked. Only her experience had kept her from being completely overwhelmed.

"Damn. You've gotten so good so fast." Kate panted when they took a break. "I'd hate you if I didn't know just how much I'm improving with our sparring."

Harry blushed. "Sorry."

"Don't be." Kate reassured him. "I'm just being petty. Unless your cheating..."

"I wouldn't." Harry protested.

"I know. I'm just teasing." Kate grinned. "If you were cheating I would be plastered on the ground at the far side of the field by now."

"No you wouldn't." Harry countered. "You'd be plastered two streets away."

Kate and Harry shared a laugh.

That's when everything when downhill.

The air was filled with multiple overlapping cracks and a group of black clad people appeared in the middle of the group.

"Crucio." The leader stated.

Jen was the target and she hit the ground screaming horrifically.

The leader was revealed to be Bellatrix Lestrange. "Did you really think you could run from us? You can't hide from the Dark Lord. But at least you gave me some toys to play with."

Well, that was her intended speech. She was cut-off halfway through the first sentence by a surge of power from behind her. She was turning to see the source when the ground exploded.

Harry's reaction time was dulled slightly by his surprise at not being the intended target. Slightly. As soon as Bellatrix spoke he knew exactly who she was. Anger and rage cascaded through him, forcing him to focus on Occlumency to stay calm and focused. He tapped into his power, feeling it flood though him.

'Bombarda' He though sending the highly charged spell into the ground in the middle of the group.

The resulting explosion sent several of the Death Eaters flying and Harry blurred forward into the middle of the group, using his staff to send waves of compressed air to each side, tossing the few Death Eaters still standing through the air.

Now he could really attack and, with a mix of staff work and wandless stunning spells, laid into the Death Eaters. He focused on one group, knowing Tonks would keep the other group occupied.

Bellatrix watched the unknown red-haired girl attack with amazing speed and power. She raised her wand to retaliate but was distracted by a stream of stunning spells strike the unprotected Death Eaters behind the girl.

She looked over and traced the source of the spells, barely aware of Greyback running forward to attack the girl himself. The spells were being cast by someone invisible but the spells were acting as a beacon and her Cruciatus landed true, eliciting a scream from the target.

Harry easily handled the Death Eaters but the feral looking man seemed to be a much more dangerous opponent. A wave of compressed air stopped him in his tracks and Harry used the advantage to strike at him rapidly, landing several heavy blows before the feral man managed to jump back to get some distance.

Harry heard Tonks' scream and knew he had to fight Bellatrix fast. He used a blast of compressed air from his hand to launch his staff at the feral man, striking him in the face and knocking him to the ground.

Harry used his free moment to face Bellatrix. Bellatrix had an insanely gleeful expression as she pointed her wand at him.

"Crucio." From her voice she clearly loved the word, the spell and its effect on the target.

If it hit.

Harry finally performed his first successful conscious 'jump', immediately followed by his second successful jump. He jumped to the side and then back again to finish the manoeuvre behind Bellatrix. He was now holding a sword. The Sword of Gryffindor, responding to his combat stress and need for a better weapon had appeared in his hand mid jump and he plunged it through the centre of Bellatrix's back between her shoulder blades.

Bellatrix couldn't believe her eyes as her spell missed the girl who just seemed to vanish. She tried to turn to find her but a sudden pressure at her back stopped her. Her eyes opened in shock as a blood splattered silver blade emerged from her chest. The blood on the blade just flowed off, leaving the metal as clean and shiny as the day the blade was made.

She couldn't move, or breath she realised and began to panic. The blade vanished from view as quickly as it appeared and she collapsed to the ground as her legs could no longer support her, pain erupting from the wound. The light dimmed and she realised death was coming to claim her.

Harry watched Bellatrix fall but saw the feral man charging at him again. He looked more feral than ever, wolf-like even. Werewolf, Harry realised. Harry blurred forward at full speed once more and the silver blade flashed, moving too fast to see.

There was a spray of blood and the werewolf fell apart, bisected from shoulder to opposing hip.

Harry looked around for his next target and saw a few Death Eaters still moving. John was grappling one and Kate was moving past another with her staff at the ready. Harry cast several stunning spells, first at the moving Death Eaters, then at the ones still on the ground.

Double checking everything and everyone, he saw a stray arm and leg, moving weakly, short distance away.

"Tonks!" Harry blurred across the gap and freed her from the invisibility cloak. "Are you okay?"

"I'll live." Tonks managed to groan. "We have to send word to Shack and get everyone out of here in case more show up. Can you do it? And create a Portkey too, I can't focus enough just yet."

Harry nodded and summoned his wand from his bag and sent a flash of silver off as he helped Tonks back to the others.

"What the hell is going on?" Ann demanded.

"Later." Harry replied quickly. "We have to get out of here in case more show up."

Summoning his gear, he caught his staff and lengthened it and it glowed blue after a few seconds of him focusing on it.

"Portkey ready." He said. "Everyone grab hold."

"What about our cars?" Ann asked, trying to keep up.

Harry flicked his wand and the two cars lifted and floated towards them, shrinking as they came until two toy sized cars were slipped into Harry's bag.

Harry looked up and saw the obviously pregnant Katrina. "Umm, what about her?"

Tonks looked her over. "You'll have to side-along her. A Portkey is too rough."

"Side-along?" Harry looked worried. "Are you sure?"

"I can't focus enough. You can do it Harry, just focus really hard."

"Okay. Everyone grab the staff." Harry ordered. "Now."

The reluctant Ann followed suit. And Harry firmly took Katrina's arm. Seeing they were ready, he tapped the staff and watched as everyone disappeared.

"Sorry about this." Harry apologised to the pregnant woman.

Focusing, he pushed his magic and Apparated them away.

They arrived in Hermione's front yard to see the rough arrival of those using the Portkey.

"Ouch." Ann complained.

The two witches managed to land normally and the two martial artists rolled with the impact. Only Ann had landed harshly.

Harry helped everyone inside.

"Dobby, Winky." He called.

The arrival of the two elves shocked the muggles.

"You called?"

"Winky, get Tracy fast." Harry ordered. "Dobby, get Tapstone, I need some Wards put up immediately."

The two elves vanished to carry out their orders.

Everyone had settled into the lounge when Tray arrived at a run, the other girls following closely behind.

"What's up?" Tracy looked warily at the new faces.

"Two with Cruciatus exposure and she's pregnant." Harry pointed each of them out.

"Hannah..." Tracy turned to see the Hufflepuff already running away.

Tracy pulled her wand to scan the three indicated women.

"Well, there's nothing serious wrong with any of you as far as I can tell, but I've never examined a pregnant woman before so I can't be sure. I'm don't think your anxiety levels are good though so I'll give you a calming draught." Tracy announced her diagnosis.

"Will a potion work on a person whose non-magical?" Harry asked.

"Oh." Tracy looked started. "What about her?"

"I'm a witch." Jen admitted.

"Thanks okay then. Hannah's just getting you a potion for you." Tracy turned back to Katrina. "I'll use a Calming charm instead."

"It won't hurt me or my baby?" Katrina looked scared.

"Not a chance, it will really help." Tracy smiled reassuringly as she raised her wand.

A quick flash later and Katrina looked incredibly relaxed.

"Would it be okay if we get Madam Pomfrey here?" Tracy asked. "I could use her opinion."

Harry nodded to an anxiously waiting Winky who vanished on her errand.

Hannah returned with several potions and administered them to Tonks and Jen.

"Now everything seems to be calming down, what the hell of going on?" Ann demanded of Harry, loudly. "You had better have a really good reason for me not arrest you for killing two people right in front of me."

The commotion had brought Hermione's Grandparents and Great-Grandparents into the room.

"Who killed two people?" Philip asked.

"She," Ann pointed at Harry, "just killed two people, with a sword. Any why don't you seem bothered you have a killer in the house."

"Who did you kill?" Philip asked.

"Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback." Tonks answered for Harry.

"Greyback?" Harry looked at the Auror. "I know that name. Wasn't the one who..."

"Remus, yeah." Tonks finished for him.

"I thought that's what he was." Harry mused.

"Lestrange was right up there, right?" Philip pondered out loud.

"Yeah. Right up there." Hermione confirmed. "A real nut job too."

"That's good then." Philip nodded to Harry.

"Good! Good!" Ann blustered. "Who the hell are you to think that's good!"

"Former SAS." Philip stared the young police office down.

"This is a legal matter not a military one." Ann managed to hold her ground.

"True." Tonks agreed. "But it's a Magical legal matter and, as the senior member of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement present, I have jurisdiction. At least until my boss gets here, which shouldn't be much longer."

"So my sister was right." Kate stared at Harry. "You have been travelling around with bodyguards."

Harry nodded. "The guy that lot works for want me dead, badly. The biggest shock for me today wasn't them showing up but them showing us chasing someone else. Tell me 'Jen', why were they after you?"

"I've been chased by them since the end of the Ministry Party and I think I know why." Jen answered. "I have access to the names and addresses of every Witch and Wizard born in the United Kingdom. Specifically, in their case, the muggle-born ones."

There was a deadly silence following that revelation. Even Ann, nearly frothing at the mouth for answers, didn't break the silence.

It was Hermione who spoke first, her quiet voice sounding abnormally loud. "Children from non-magical families won't learn of the Wizarding World until they are invited to Hogwarts, will they?"

Tonks nodded. "Even the ones who are visited by the Magical Reversal Squad don't join until then too."

"Oh god." Harry paled. "That fucking snake-faced bastard. He's going to try and kill every child under eleven, isn't he."

"That's my conclusion too." Hermione looked like she was about to faint.

"Are you seriously telling me that someone is going through so much effort just to try and kill a bunch of children?" Ann couldn't believe it.

"They think of those children worst than the Nazi's thought of the Jews." Hermione explained. "They think of them as animals to be slaughtered."

"And it wouldn't be quick and painless deaths either." Tonks added. "They like to 'play' with them. They make some of the worst serial killers you've heard of look tame. Lestrange and Greyback were two of the worst, but none of them compare to their leader."

Ann gulped. "You can't be serious. Surely someone like that would be dealt with."

"Not so easy. They sent dozens of Auror's against the three Lestrange's and their accomplice back when they were first arrested and still lost six and had several other seriously injured. Their Leader is just on a whole other level in terms of skill and power." Tonks explained.

The conversation was halted when two other people entered the room.

"You two left quite a mess to clean up." Kingsley said.

"I hope you're all alright." Amelia added.

"You, you're their other bodyguard." Ann recognised Kingsley.

Kingsley looked at her. "Oh, yes. The police officer from the movie theatre."

"I see there are a few new faces here." Amelia looked around. "I am Amelia Bones, Minister of Magic and this is Kingsley Shacklebolt, Head of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement."

Ann looked relieved to see some figures of authority, such as they were. "I keep hearing all the talk of magic. I'm not sure I understand."

"Magic is real and the users of magic live in a society hidden away from non-magical people." Hermione explained. "We have our own Governments and schools, and our own problems. Normally only people like myself and Harry, who have non-magical families, or Ministry Official with liaison duties, cross the border between the two worlds."

"So you're revealing this hidden world to me because?" Ann queried.

"Normal policy would be to remove those memories from you." Amelia stated. "Not the nicest thing and very invasive, but history has shown that we are safer being hidden away."

"So, you're going to destroy my memory?"

"No, just hide a small part of today." Amelia assured her. "But I am yet to decide if it is necessary."

"How reassuring."

Amelia gave a small smile. "First things first. Tonks, report please."

Tonks gave as concise a report as she could, additional details were added by John, Ann and Kate.

Amelia turned to Jen. "Jennifer Simons. I had a report that you had not shown up to work. Our attempts to locate you had failed. I'm glad to see you are okay."

"Thank you, Minister." Jen bowed slightly.

"Aunty," Susan spoke up, "We think they're going after the muggle-born who haven't been approached by Hogwarts yet."

"That was a concern we had when Miss Simons vanished, but now we have confirmation we can take action." Amelia nodded to her niece.

"Harry? Are you okay?" Ginny noticed Harry hadn't spoken for a while and was looking pale.

"You might want to get a bucket or something." Philip suggested.

Ginny dashed to the kitchen and returned with a bowl, just in time. Harry tore it from her hands and threw up into it. Tracy waited until he finished before removing the contents and smell with a flick of her wand.

"Get it all out kid." Philip told him. "You first kill is always the worst."

"That actually make me feel a little better." John commented. "I was a little worried that she did that too easily."

"So why did she throw up now." Kate asked.

"His adrenaline wore off." Philip answered.

"Her." Kate corrected, confused.

"Long story." Ginny cut them both off. "And that one can wait."

"What's the situation?" John asked.

The answer was delayed by the return of Winky. "Madam Pomfrey is in the Entrance Hall, waiting for permission."

"I'll got." Hermione hurried off and return with the Healer.

Poppy cut right to the chase. "Alright Harry, what happened to you now... Oh, hello Minister Bones."

"Thanks for coming, Madam Pomfrey." Tracy spoke up. "These two have Cruciatus exposure and she's pregnant. Harry's fine, apart from throwing up."

Tracy gave more detail to Madam Pomfrey as the older Witch performed her own checks. "Well done Miss Davis. You did well."

Poppy double checked Katrina. "Interesting. It seems your baby has some level of magical ability."

"How is that possible?" John asked.

"She is my cousin, so it's not impossible." Jen answered.

"And magical ability can crop up in anyone." Hermione added. "I'm a good example. There's no magic in my family, I'm the first. Harry's mother was the same."

"Oh. Well." Katrina and John both seemed to be at a loss for words.

"So what is actually going on?" Kate demanded.

"There is an evil bastard called Voldemort who is bent on taking over the world and killing everyone he disapproves of, which is basically everyone who refuses to be his slave." Hermione let loose her spiel. "We are working together to defeat him."

"You're using kids to fight your battles?" Ann looked disgusted.

"Not by choice." Amelia replied tiredly. "Not by choice. Susan here is the only family I have left. My brother, his wife and my fiancé were all victims of this madman and his followers. Harry's parents also. There are few families that have been untouched by this fight."

"Also there are other considerations." Hermione said quietly. "I've been thinking about this since my grandparents showed up.

"You know how in stories it's the lone hero who defeats the evil villain?"

"Fantasy stories, yeah?" Ann nodded.

"Why was it him, why not some army or other group that's supposed to do that sort of thing?"

Ann pondered. "Aside from that making a lousy story, the hero usually has some destiny or ability that means the task falls to him."

"Exactly." Hermione pounced. "Magic is both wondrous and dangerous. But it seems to work like a story in some regards. That seems to be the only rule of magic that Harry seems to follow, he's broken all the others."

"That sort of makes sense." Ann admitted.

"Why do you keep calling her 'him'?" Kate looked around.

"Because of this." Harry spoke for the first time in ages, still pale.

He focused and everyone stared in shock at the busty girl with long red hair was replaced by a boy with short and messy dark hair.

"You're a guy!" Kate half shouted in shock.

"All my life, until nearly a month ago." Harry said. "Just another incident of insanity that infects my life."

Kate stared at her friend.

"Long story." Harry told her. "I'm sorry for deceiving you."

"Is this a disguise or something?" John asked.

"Not really." Harry explained. "It seems to be my default form now. I've only recently learned how to shift back to my male form but I can't sustain it for long."

Jen was staring open mouthed. "You're... you're... You're Harry Potter. Oh my... Lord Potter, I can't thank you enough for saving me today."

"Lord Potter?" Kate was staring more now. "You're a Lord? And how does she know you?"

"Harry's kind of a well known figure in our world and we have our own aristocracy as well." Tonks explained.

"Kind of?" Daphne laughed. "Right now he's probably the most influential person in the Wizarding World."

"As opposed to a month ago when I was one of the most hated." Harry grumbled.

"There's a huge amount going on isn't there?" Ann stated more than asked.

"Yes." Amelia nodded. "An example of this is that I've only been in my position for a couple of weeks. Harry and I had the last Minister voted out due to his corruption and incompetence."

"Just like that?" John stared. "That easily?"

"I wouldn't say easily but he really nailed his own coffin shut, we just made sure they were in properly." Amelia grinned.

Kate suddenly grabbed her head. "This is too much. My head is spinning."

Harry nodded. "That's how I feel most of the time."

"Sorry, but can you change back." Kate begged. "That's just one thing too many."

Harry nodded and shifted back to his female form and grimaced.

"Excuse me." He said and began hauling his bra around under his Gi until it was sitting properly. "Never goes back properly."

Kate giggled.

"I hate to interrupt but I have another class to teach." John spoke up.

"I'll escort you." Kingsley offered. "I want to inspect the scene one last time. I'll assign Auror Jones to remain and escort you back here."

"Thank you." John nodded respectfully.

John gave his wife a kiss goodbye and nodded to Harry and Kate and left with the dark skinned Auror.

"Um. Harry, Lord Potter." Ann began.

"Harry is fine." Harry told her.

"Can I have a word, in private."

Harry nodded and the two went outside.

"I was approached a couple of days ago," Ann began. "by the British Secret Service. They want you to get in touch with them."

"Really?" Harry was shocked.

"Well, they didn't mention you by name but they said I knew who you were and that you had special abilities and that you were a very dangerous situation." Ann explained.

"That seems to fit, but how would they know you could find me?" Harry asked.

"That's my fault." Ann admitted. "When we met that day at the movies I noticed your security detail and wanted to know more. I searched for you but couldn't find you. Well, actually I did, but I didn't know it was you."

"I'm guessing there was a report on my parents death." Harry commented.

Ann nodded. "The picture of your mother looked just like your but the surviving child was male so..."

Harry nodded. "I'm not sure what to do, but thank you for telling me."

"Those, Death Eaters?" Ann paused for confirmation and, getting a nod from Harry, continued. "They were going to kill us, weren't they?"

Harry nodded sadly. "Yeah. Slowly and painfully. A friend of mine's parents were cursed by Lestrange and not rescued in time. She tortured them into insanity. That was about fifteen years ago and they still don't know who they are, or even who their son is.

"The spells they use rely on intent. To inflict the most pain, you have to want to hurt them. Constant use twists the mind. Her family didn't help either. Apart from a few rare individuals, they were all nasty people."

"I want to help." Ann said after a minutes silence. "It's my job, but one I chose because I wanted to help people. But how can I help? What can I do in a situation like this? I feel so helpless."

"I've felt that way many times before." Harry told her. "I had a friend killed in front of me. I was literally inches away from him, and I couldn't save him. I couldn't do anything. The order that took his life was 'kill the spare'.

"He shouldn't have been there. I was the target. He was only there because I didn't want to cheat him out of a prize he had earned in a school competition."

Ann looked sympathetic. "I sort of want to know what's going on, but I'm really scared."

"You should be." Harry told her. "I'm really scared too. So many of my friends are risking themselves to help me. I'm terrified that they might get hurt."

Harry turned to head inside. "I need to talk to my friends about this. If you want to help, you could come. We could use your opinion."

Ann nodded. "Thanks."

Harry went back inside and pulled Amelia aside to quietly tell her what Ann had revealed. She told him that she would look into it, but it might not be a bad thing to get their assistance.

"We have something we need to talk about." Harry announced to his friends. "Philip, Tonks, can you come too please?"

Kate saw Ann following. "Can I come too?"

Harry shrugged. "Can't hurt. Actually, you should all come. You can relax while we talk."

"Just don't mind the giant snake." Kevin quipped.

"Giant snake?" Kate looked scared.

"Long story." Hermione replied. "Just another one of Harry's adventures."

"Are there a lot of those stories?" Kate looked over.

"Yes." The single word was spoken in unison by all eight girls.

Harry shook his head and led the way to the Entrance Hall. The new visitors were surprised by the door they couldn't see until Harry opened it. Sally also made quite the impression. The World Room made the biggest impression though. Even Katrina, still under the effects of the Calming charm stared around in wonder. She remained with Hermione's Grandmother and Great-Grandmother, walking towards the beach, while the rest followed Harry down to the river.

"Ann, can you tell them what you told me, please?" Harry asked. "I've let Amelia know already. I need to shake off this mood before I'll be of any use. I'm going for a run."

Harry turned and started running, suddenly shifting form in midstride and a glossy white equine raced off over the nearby bridge.

"He turned into a horse?" Kate stared.

"Unicorn to be exact." Tracy watched Harry's pure white form vanish into the trees across the river.

"His Animagus form is a Unicorn." Tonks gasped. "You're right he really does break all the rules."

"Animagus?" Ann asked.

"The ability to turn into an animal." Hermione explained. "It's not an ability everyone can learn."

"It's very difficult and dangerous." Tonks added. "He is going to register isn't he."

"When he can." Daphne said pointedly.

"Yes, right, just don't get caught." Tonks grinned. "Any of you."

They all grinned back.

"Right. What were you going to tell us?" Hermione turned the conversation back to a serious topic.

"I was approached by the British Secret Service who wanted Harry to get in touch with them." Ann stated bluntly.

That drew a long silence.

"Interesting." Philip said, finally breaking the silence. "It has potential, but it's risks as well. I've worked with them on occasion and they're good at their jobs but they are a different sort. Of course, so are the SAS. They could be useful, they have different rules around equipment so we could get weapons that will actually be effective against magical opponents."

"And the risks?" Hermione asked.

"They may not let go once they reel Harry in." Philip stated. "Though you'd have similar risks if you went to the SAS."

"There are ways of hiding." Hermione told him. "But it would be better not to have to. If we are clear on the boundaries, would they respect them?"

"Probably, but if they learn how to manipulate Harry, they could get him to 'volunteer' his services. And you all as well if they learn your weaknesses." Philip replied. "It will really depend on the ethics of the person in charge, but these are people who have to send people into situations which will probably kill them and forget about them if it happens. You've got to be pretty hard to handle that job."

"So it's a risk." Ginny said sadly.

"So is life." Philip shrugged. "The people who accept these sorts of jobs are the sort of people who believe that what they are doing is more important than their own lives."

"Unfortunately, Harry is that sort of person." Susan said quietly.

"Yeah." Ginny agreed. "He would do it simply to try and save one more person."

"That's why we have to protect him." Daphne stated firmly. "That's one of the reasons why we're all here."

"Here he comes now." Tracy said suddenly.

She ran forward to meet the approaching Unicorn and gave it a hug and began stroking it's long neck. Harry shifted back but she didn't let go and ended up with him in her embrace.

"You're so snugly like that." She smiled to him as she finally let go and led him back to the group.

"You can really turn into a Unicorn?" Kate gushed.

Ann rolled her eyes and hauled her sister away from Harry. "Back off. Sorry, she just had a thing for Unicorns as a kid. I guess it came back."

"It's okay." Harry replied. "You can have a closer look later, and maybe even a ride if I'm in the mood."

Kate's eyes lit up brightly. "Please."

Harry chuckled. His time in the pure form of the Unicorn had allowed him to rebalance his emotions.

"So, what have you come up with?" He asked the group.

"Getting in touch with them has its advantages in fighting Voldemort, but there are risks that they may want us for 'other' missions too." Hermione replied.

"While I don't think I want to make a living doing that sort of thing, there might be occasions where it's in our best interests to help out." Harry said after thinking for a minute.

"Just remember that we'll have a say in that too." Daphne stated.

"Of course." Harry grinned. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Are you two dating or something?" Kate asked.

"I don't think you need me anymore. Let me know what you decide." Philip stood suddenly and left, followed by Kevin, to join their wives.

"Huh?" Kate watched them leave.

"Let's just say that magic can have unintended consequences." Susan said quietly.

"In other words be careful what you promise." Daphne shot an amused grin at her Hufflepuff friend.

"I'm missing something big here aren't I?" Kate looked around the group. "And doesn't Harry being a girl at the moment make it difficult?"

Hermione stepped up to Harry and kissed him firmly. "Only if you let it."

Kate was stunned at the casual display of affection the brunette gave to the currently female Harry. "So which one of you is Harry's girlfriend?"

There were a lot of blushes and one grin from Luna.

"Like Susan said, magic can have unexpected consequences." Tracy shot a mock glare at Susan.

"There is a reason my Grandfather left." Hermione added. "He's not too keen on the situation. And it's not something we really like to discuss with 'other people'."

"Fair enough." Ann shot her little sister a pointed glare. "Other people relationships are not our business. Especially when they are obviously happy with them."

"You're right. I'm sorry everyone." Kate apologised.

"It's okay." Harry assured her.

Kate nodded thoughtfully. "Can we take a walk? I'd like to look around. This place is amazing."

Harry nodded. "Sure. Or would you rather fly?"

"Fly?" Kate looked at him sceptically.

Harry grinned.

"You should be careful." Hermione warned her. "Harry flying is not passenger friendly."

"Sounds like fun." Kate grinned.

"Winky." Harry called. "Could you bring my broom please?"

"Broom?" Kate looked at him. "That's just so stereotypical it's not even funny. Witches on broomsticks. Are you serious?"

Winky returned with Harry's Firebolt and Harry took it happily. "Still looking like the stereotype?"

Kate looked the sleek broom over. "Okay, not so much."

Harry mounted. "Coming."

"You bet." Kate swung on behind him and held on. "Let's go."

Harry launched the broom into the air eliciting a whoop from Kate. Soaring high in the air Kate stared around the massive expanse of the room. She saw things she wanted to look at and Harry was happy to swoop down so they could have a closer look. The dives had her screaming with pleasure every time. She could tell Harry was good enough not to crash and trusted him to keep her safe.

Ginny and Daphne had their own brooms brought and joined Harry in the air, starting an aerial game of follow the leader. Kate loved it and was laughing the whole time.

It was a while before she asked Harry to land in the depths of the room. Giving the two witches a wave to let them know they were okay they walked back together quietly.

"Umm." Kate started. "I'm not sure what to say right now."

"Learning I'm a guy changes things doesn't it." Harry said.

"A little." Kate admitted. "I'm not planning on asking you on a date, if that's what your worried about."

"Not really." Harry grinned. "But that would lead to complications."

Kate chuckled slightly.

"We are still friends, right?" Harry asked quietly.

"Of course." Kate picked up on the worry in his voice. "I never even considered stopping. But it does change things a little."

"Oh?" Harry was confused.

"Well, going clubbing to look for boyfriends is right out, though I think most of them would be more interested in you anyway."

"You can keep them all." Harry assured her quickly. "I have enough problems at the moment in that regards."

Kate smiled. "How many of those girls are you dating? No sorry, I shouldn't ask."

Harry smiled wirily. "The situation is more complicated than that. Seven. Luna sees me as her big sister."

"That is complicated. How do they handle it? I don't think I could."

"I don't know." Harry sighed. "They seem happy and they keep telling me not to worry. So..."

Kate looked at red-head as he shrugged helplessly.

"It's been hard enough adapting to being a girl, the clothes, breasts, showering. It took a few days before I could look at myself in the mirror." Harry went on.

Kate laughed. "That must have been dreadful. Still, it changes how I see you a bit. I was going to ask if you wanted to go swimming."

"That's okay" Harry was a little confused. "We had an indoor and outdoor pool built here, plus the river and coastline in here."

"How about going to a public swimming pool?" Kate asked pointedly.

"I've never done that before." Harry replied softly. "I only learnt how to swim a couple of weeks ago. It could be fun though."

"Yeah, but sharing the girls' changing rooms with, well, a guy?" Kate asked him. "I'm not sure I could do that now that I know."

Harry turned bright red. He tried to respond but could get passed his stuttering.

Kate laughed. The tension of the moment broken as she swung an arm around shoulders to support herself. "Oh, Harry. Your priceless. No wonder those girls get on with you so well. You really are a nice guy."

"So they keep telling me." Harry replied.

"How are you coping so far? Kate calmed down.

"Pretty well." Harry sighed. "It's not been easy but I'm adjusting."

"Do you need someone to talk too?"Kate looked at Harry directly so he could see how serious she was. "I know we don't know each other that well, but I do want us to be friends. So, if you need to ask anything..."

"Thanks." Harry smiled. "Hermione's been great, and so has her mother, Emily. It's just awkward talking about it with her."

"Most of those personal questions are hard for anyone to talk about." Kate assured him. "Still, if you have any questions, your dating Hermione and her mother must be incredible awkward to talk to given that you are dating her daughter..."

Harry flushed again. "Emily gave me 'The Talk', in detail, from both sides. That was embarrassing. Going through an entire bottle of whiskey between us helped."

Kate laughed at that.

Harry grinned a little too. "Hermione has been great, she's been willing to talk to me about everything. I suppose it helps that she been through more with me than all the other so there aren't any surprises for her. Ginny's been good too."

"Well I'm glad you've got someone you can talk about anything with." Kate smiled gently.

Harry looked uncomfortable and Kate picked up on it quickly. She didn't push but her encouraging look and question lift of her eyebrow helped Harry start talking.

"There is one thing I haven't asked Hermione about." Harry admitted eventually.

"I'll listen, when you're ready to talk." Kate assured him softly.

Harry stopped and though. Kate watched as he slowly turned redder and redder.

"It's about sex, isn't it?" Kate guessed.

Harry's turned fully red instantly, confirming Kate's guess.

"I've had sex. A few times, with my ex. He was nice but we went indifferent directions. I think he was a little intimidated by a girl who could outfight him." Kate said, trying to maintain her composure.

"I haven't." Harry admitted. "You have to understand. After my parents died I went to live with my Aunt and Uncle. They didn't like me at all. I didn't have any friends growing up so there is a lot I don't know about relationships. Hermione didn't tell me how she felt about me until after I changed. So I felt better about asking her for advice back then, she helped a lot really. Now..." Harry shrugged.

Kate pulled Harry down to sit next to her. "Well, you're not dating me so lay it on me."

Harry screwed his eyes shut. "What do you when a girl visits you in the night and does stuff and then tells you they love you right before they leave, and you have no idea who it was."

Kate stared. "Okay. Umm. By doing stuff you mean... just touching or was it more."

"Just touching, first herself and then me." Harry admitted quietly.

"Wow." Kate looked thoughtful. "If a guy just visited me like that I'd kick their arse but I'm guessing that it was one of the girls you're dating. I guess that's one of the problems of dating more than one girl at once. You have multiple choices on who it could be."

Harry nodded. "I'm sure it was one of them, there's enough security here that not just anyone can get in. Plus her presence felt familiar."

"Well, if you both enjoyed it and you both consented I guess there's no harm done." Kate pondered.

"We did both enjoy it. Very much." Harry managed to get even redder.

Kate grinned, guessing what had happened. "Well, she loves you so that's good."

"I've never had anyone tell me that before." Harry admitted. "Never. Well, I guess my parents did but my only memory of them is my mother's death."

Kate stared at him, her hand covering her mouth on shock as she really began to realise what his life had been like. "Oh. Umm. Well, you can't answer her if you don't know who she is. I guess what she did would have been embarrassing for you both if you'd actually seen her.

"I'm guessing it was the dark. Having that anonymity can allow you to do things you wouldn't normally do. I guess you never told a girl you love her either."

"No." Harry shock his head.

"I guess they all know all this already too?" Kate half asked thoughtfully.

"Yeah. In detail. If you want some nightmares, you can see too. You and your sister are better off knowing exactly what you're getting into." Harry answered.

"After this morning, does it get much worse than seeing blood spraying across a school playing field?" Kate asked sceptically. "I'm going to have nightmares from that."

"Sorry." Harry ducked his head.

"Don't be." Kate told him. "You saved our lives. You shouldn't have to apologise for that."

Kate gave him a brief hug as thanks. "Back to our topic. Since you don't know who it was, you can't answer her. I would guess that was the point. A night of passion and a heartfelt confession without putting any pressure on you to rush sorting out how you feel."

"You really think so?" Harry asked hopefully.

"You do have sort out your feelings towards them but there's no way you can respond to that girl until you know who she is. If you can't figure it out then you'll have to wait until she tells you." Kate explained further. "If she really understands your situation she may never reveal herself. If you fall for her then there isn't really any point. Just a night of forbidden pleasure." Kate gave him a salacious grin.

"So, I do nothing."Harry didn't seem comfortable with that.

"It's more that there's nothing you can do." Kate told him. "Still, if you do find out who it was, she obviously likes that sort of thing, she might like you to 'visit' her one night in return."

Harry blushed again. "Damn it. I feel like I've spent more time blushing than anything else during the last month."

Kate laughed. "You'll get over it eventually."

"Thanks." Harry said quietly with a soft smile. "You've helped a lot. I was really worried about that."

"You're welcome." Kate returned the smile. "Why didn't you talk to Hermione about this? If you talk to her about everything else."

"Well, she's the most likely person to have done it." Harry replied, blushing again. "We talked about... touching ourselves early that day. I don't know I could face her knowing it was her."

"Well, you've got me." Kate told him. "I was really hoping we could become great friends. It's just a little more extreme than I expected but, I think the perks will be worth it."

"Perks?" Harry queried.

"I have a friend with a Beach Resort, a Ski Resort and is trying to save the world." Kate teased. "And you're a really great person too. Plus I may actually get to ride a Unicorn. How much cooler get this get?"

"Thanks." Harry smiled. "I never had many friends until a month ago, but I'm always happy to have one more."

"I'm a little jealous though." Kate admitted.

"Huh?" Harry blinked. "Why?"

"Because they have a boyfriend who thinks being told he is loved is more important that a secret sexual act." Kate replied. "That's pretty special."

"Come on." Kate stood and offered Harry a hand to his feet. "Let's catch up with the others."

Harry grinned. "Walk or fly?"

"Fly, of course." Kate grinned excitedly.

A whoop from Kate punctuated their launch back into the air.

!HPEaSE!

Harry spent some time sparring with Kate. Ann had to leave for work and dashed off as soon as Harry restored her car. When John returned he pulled Harry aside to talk. Kate used this opportunity to do the same with Hermione.

"So you're the one Harry talks to the most." Kate started the conversation.

Hermione studied the older girl. "I'm guessing you had quite the interesting conversation with Harry while you were flying."

"We stopped for a rest, but yes." Kate admitted. "He had a few things to say."

"Like what?" Hermione was curious.

"Well I got the impression that I should get my sister to throw his aunt and uncle into jail."

"You should but Harry just wants to leave them alone." Hermione looked annoyed. "Still, we have a few avenues for retribution, even if Harry doesn't want his past revealed which I know he doesn't."

Kate looked sad, and a little angry. "It'd better be good."

"Just a significant ownership in the company his uncle works for." Hermione commented innocently. "Oh, and as it turns out, he owns their house too."

Kate laughed. "Ooh. So many options with that."

Hermione gave an evil grin. "Plus Ginny has twin brothers who have their own shop selling prank goods and jokes. They owe Harry a lot too."

"I'm beginning to like you a lot." Kate grinned. "So, did you sneak a little midnight fun with Harry a few days ago?"

Hermione, caught out, choked. "What?"

Kate cocked her head and arched an eyebrow.

Hermione slumped. "I guess you caught me out."

"Harry figured it was you, he's just too scared to ask after your confession." Kate revealed.

Hermione shook her head. "I might've known. His intuition is unbelievable. I research and can work out logic puzzles with the best of them but Harry can put seemingly unrelated pieces of a puzzle together better than anyone."

"I told him you didn't expect a response to your confession." Kate said. "I think that helped him a bit."

"Thanks." Hermione looked relieved. "That's what I was planning on telling him if he talked to me about it."

"I did suggest that he 'repay' you, since you seem to like that sort of thing." Kate commented quietly.

Hermione flushed. "That might be fun actually, but I share my room with Ginny so it's not so easy."

Kate conceded that point. "I wanted to be friends with Harry from when we first met. Harry told me a few things about his life that really worry me."

"You have no idea." Hermione sagged. "Though you might have been witness to the bloodiest encounter."

Hermione lifted her shirt to expose her stomach and traced out the fading scar. "I had a very close call myself just a few weeks ago. The night before Harry was attacked and turned into a girl actually."

Kate looked a little scared. "How do you keep fighting?"

"Because if I don't, they will kill me." Hermione looked her in the eye. "I believe that what I'm doing is right. Plus Harry is my best friend, I'm not letting him down."

Kate nodded. "I'm her, his, friend too. He might be talking to me about things he can't talk to you about."

Hermione held back her sudden surge of jealousy and allowed logic to take over. "Good. He needs someone other than us he can rely on. My parents would but, they are my parents so..."

"Awkward." Kate chirped.

"Very." Hermione admitted. "I'm being as open as I can with him, it's not easy sometimes but he needs so much help."

"I'll take some of the burden."

"Thank you." Hermione smiled. "I mean, I know we just met but Harry has always had good instincts and they've only improved. I think with his Animagus form he can just tell who he can trust, and I trust Harry. It's really nice to meet you."

"You too." Kate hugged the younger girl. "You know, I was thinking of inviting Harry to go clubbing or swimming."

Hermione laughed. "The changing room would be very uncomfortable for Harry, and us but that's avoidable. We're a little young for clubbing."

"Not really. You don't get out much do you" Kate told her.

"I spend most of the year in a boarding school in Scotland. All my friends are there and with the level of separation between the magical and non-magical worlds and Harry's upbringing I didn't have anyone to go with. Until now."

"So? Time to have some fun." Kate suggested. "Hit a club, check out the hot guys..."

"Well, you won't have to worry about Harry stealing any of the guys from you, he'll be too busy running from them." Hermione chuckled. "I don't think any guy could compare to Harry though."

"You've got it bad for him, don't you. Still, with all of you there, you're going to make things difficult." Kate pouted. "Still, Harry could go as a guy..."

"Maybe. It depends if his control is good enough." Hermione looked a little worried. "If he changes back suddenly it would be a little tricky to explain."

"Ah, true." Kate conceded. "How would Harry handle a clubbing outfit?"

"Should be okay." Hermione said thoughtfully. "We went to a formal event in dresses which he managed okay. I'm not familiar with clubbing though so I can't comment."

"I'll help." Kate paused and studied Hermione and smiled. "I think we'll be good friends too."

"I'd like that." Hermione smiled back.

!HPEaSE!

"We need to talk." John looked at Harry sternly.

"Oh, that's not good." Harry looked worried.

"It's not that bad."John assured him. "The sword you used. It's not suitable for what I'm teaching you."

"I'm being taught a different style as well." Harry said.

"I noticed." John told him. "That's good. I'm not angry. Considering what you're going against, you need it."

"Oh. Did Shacklebolt fill you in?"

"On some very disturbing details." John stared at Harry firmly. "I don't want my child to grow up at risk from these people."

"I understand." Harry replied.

"I'm guessing your learning a few different things."

"Yeah. From you, Hermione's Grandfather, Shacklebolt and... a retired goblin warrior." Harry said the last one a little hesitantly.

"A goblin?" John was surprised. "Not the sort of thing you'd expect."

"Person, please." Harry contradicted. "He's been a huge help."

"Sorry." John apologised. "My point is that at some point you have to combine all those styles into one cohesive style. You may only just have started but given your rate of progression you really need to start working out how to pull them together. It won't be easy too given how different some of the styles you have to join are."

Harry thought about it. "I think I knew I'd have to do that but I didn't think it would come so soon. I guess I didn't realise how much I was progressing."

"Normally I think you could have left it a year without any problems but your problems are more immediate than that." John went on. "You're being rushed somewhat, and this sort of thing shouldn't be rushed."

"I should've figured something like this would happen." Harry sighed. "So, how do I do it?"

"You have to figure it out for yourself, I'm afraid." John told him.

"I might've known." Harry slumped.

"I, and I'm sure your other instructors, will help as much as we can but you have to find what works for you." John reassured him. "Just take it slowly. There's still much for you to learn."

Harry nodded. "Thanks. I should talk to my other instructors about this too, shouldn't I?"

"You should." John confirmed. "We should collaborate too since it's going to be a joint exercise, effectively."

Harry nodded. "That makes sense. Well, Philip is easy to talk to. I think Shacklebolt can spare some time. Professor Flitwick will be a big help too. The Assessor is the one I'm not sure about, though he knows I'm learning other styles so he may be expecting this."

"The Assessor?"

"The goblin who's helping me. When he retired as a Master Warrior he was given a very senior position in goblin society and is referred to by his title out of respect."

John nodded. "When do you see everyone next?"

"The Assessor on Sunday after lunch and Shacklebolt and Professor Flitwick Monday morning after our session."

"I might swing by for a visit and see if your goblin instructor has time for a chat." John commented thoughtfully.

"Thanks." Harry said gratefully.

"Now, would you be so kind as too lead me to my wife?" John asked.

"Sure, she should still be in the World Room. This way." Harry headed off.

John was shocked to meet Sally and even more shocked to learn Harry had defeated it when he was twelve.

Then he was shocked again when he saw the World Room.

"Wow." John stared around the massive expanse of the room.

"This is where I do most of my training, particularly the high-power stuff." Harry explained as he led his Sensei into the room proper.

"Just how much damage can you do?" John asked. "I remember you called yourself a walking tornado once."

"I nearly destroyed the room that time." Harry stated bluntly. "It's been reinforced since then so we shouldn't need to worry."

"Shouldn't? I feel reassured." John said dryly.

"I can still do plenty of damage," Harry grinned, "but the room was designed to take that. Go spend some time with your wife."

John looked where Harry indicated and saw his wife sitting on the beach waving to him.

With a nod to Harry, John joined his wife and the two took a stroll along the beach.

Harry left to find the others and found them outside in their usual study space. Kate was still there, having acquired a bikini somehow, and was sprawled out next to Hermione and reading through some books on the Wizarding World in general.

Hermione waved for him to join them and pushed a Warding book in front of him.

!HPEaSE!

Tapstone didn't make it until about lunch time. His meeting with Kate, John and Katrina could have gone better, but it could have gone much worse. The non-magical stories about goblins portrayed them as vicious and blood thirsty but the well dressed and obviously civilised goblin easily shattered those expectations and Harry easily chatting to the goblin helped as well.

"Hi Tapstone. Sorry to drag you out here but this is an emergency."

"Not at all." Tapstone waved his concerns away. "What's the trouble?"

"Voldemort's made a move finally. He's trying to find and attack all the children from non-magical families that are too young for Hogwarts."

Tapstone groaned at Harry's words. "We never considered them did we. An oversight on our part, easily made but an oversight nevertheless."

Harry didn't look happy. "I didn't think properly about the situation. If you get in touch with Minister Bones, she will provide you a list of addresses and possibly some liaisons so you can inform them of the situation. I don't know if she's decided to approach those families just yet or if she'll wait."

Tapstone nodded. "Not my call. Anything else? You seem to have some new friends here?"

Harry nodded and introduced them. "They will need protecting as well. John and Katrina's baby seems to have some magical potential. Kate and her older sister Ann are helping too. They have a younger sister who doesn't know about this yet though."

"I'll ensure my workers are discrete." Tapstone assured him. "I will go, the sooner we start, the sooner they will be protected."

Harry thanked the goblin and watched him leave.

"So that's a goblin." Kate commented as the goblin leaved. "Not what I expected."

"They're pretty reasonable if you treat them respectfully." Harry told her.

"I'll remember that." Kate assured him.

!HPEaSE!

Harry was a mess. Every time he closed his eyes he could see the his sword pushed through Lestrange. The vibrations from the sword as the flat of the blade grated against her spine as it slid through seemed to pervade through his entire being. Then there was the spray of blood from the werewolf's body the shifts in the blade as it severed flesh, organ and bone.

Harry sat up and threw the covers back, his stomach rolling in turmoil as he made a dash for the toilet. He didn't make it and he fell to his knees on the bathroom floor as his rebelling stomach forced its contents out on to the floor. His hands hit the ground, splashing into the liquid now spreading out from in from on him as his body trembled and his stomach constantly heaved, even though it was now empty.

His strength fled and his hands slipped leaving him to crash face down in the pool of his own vomit.

He hadn't been there long before Hermione and Ginny crashed through the door, followed by a sleepy Susan. With Amelia going to be busy with the new Death Eaters captured that day and the mess of Lestrange and Greyback to clean up, she had felt it best that her niece remain at the Grangers for the night.

Seeing Harry she quickly shook herself awake and helped Hermione pull the semi-conscious wizard out of his own mess while Ginny vanished it. Hermione looked Harry over and shook her head.

"We can't let him sleep like this. We're going to have to shower him." She said.

"What about cleaning charms?" Susan suggested.

It was Ginny who answered. "They're just not as effective. Mum always washed us when we were younger."

"So how do we wash him?" Susan asked.

Hermione let Susan take most of the weight and pulled her clothes off and knelt there naked, blushing a little at her own exposure.

"I'll wash him." Hermione said simply. "Just give me a hand getting him undressed and into the shower."

Susan and Ginny could see that there was no way Hermione could manage Harry in the shower on her own and exchanged a long look. Both could see that they both wanted to help but they were unsure about exposing themselves so casually.

"I'll help." Susan offered.

Ginny looked both sad and relieved. "It's not that I don't want to help..."

"Let it go." Hermione told them. "This isn't an easy decision. I wouldn't be able to do this so easily if I wasn't already considering it. I really helps that Harry is so out of it he won't remember any of this."

Hermione supported Harry while a heavily blushing Susan pulled off her nightdress.

"Ginny, can you get clean clothes for all of us and warm some towels." Hermione asked.

Ginny nodded and left as Hermione and Susan got the water running and hot and helped Harry out of his vomit covered sleepwear and into the shower. It was embarrassing for them to have to support the barely conscious wizard and wash his female body for him. They worked quickly to clean him up so Ginny, running around sorting things out from them didn't have to wait long for them.

She wrapped the warm towel around Harry's body and helped Hermione and Susan wrap their own towels around themselves too while they kept supporting Harry. Patting his body a dry as best they could they carried him out to the bedroom and Ginny sat on the bed and guided Harry too sit between her legs and leant him back against her so she could hold him while Susan and Hermione quickly dried and dressed themselves.

Dressed once more they returned their attention to Harry and finished drying and dressed him. Ginny pulled down the covers on the bed and helped the other two get Harry into the bed. Susan snuggled down against his back and drew his head up against her breasts. Hermione did the same in front of him. Ginny pulled up the coves over them and cuddled up into Hermione's back.

Ginny quickly went back to sleep but Susan and Hermione stayed awake, watching over the wizard lying between them, gently stroking his head and shoulders.

"Did you send Winky to wake me to help you?" Susan asked quietly.

"Not exactly." Hermione replied. "I just asked her to get all of us if Harry needed help."

"Did you think this would happen?"

"Yeah, sort of. Harry feels things too strongly. He can put up a front during the day but it always comes back to haunt him at night. He doesn't know I know this. He can't ask for help easily so sometimes you have to anticipate him."

Susan looked down at the wizard who seemed to have finally fallen into a proper sleep.

Hermione smiled. "You're falling in love with him, aren't you?"

Susan blushed, but nodded. "You don't mind?"

Hermione shrugged slightly. "We're already married to him. It would be odd if you remained married to him if you didn't love him."

Susan nodded. "Are you falling for him too?"

"I fell a long time ago. I love him, a lot." Hermione looked fondly at Harry. "I love him enough to put up with all the insanity that being with him brings."

"Like him being a girl and having two other girls in bed with you both." Susan teased gently.

Hermione grinned back. "Add a Dark Lord and you have it exactly right."

"Not your usual set of boyfriend problems."

"Have you dated?" Hermione asked suddenly, interested.

"Not really. I went to Hogsmeade with a boy a couple of times but I never really enjoyed it. Ever since my breasts started growing they're all boys have been interested in." Susan explained.

Hermione nodded then quirked. "So you're choosing a guy with bigger breasts than you?"

Susan had to stifle a laugh and poke Hermione's shoulder firmly. "Like you can talk, did you reveal anything about how you feel about Harry to him before he changed?"

Hermione blushed and shook her head.

"So you finally make a move on him and find yourself sharing him with everyone else."

"Actually, it was after we swore the oath that I told him I liked him." Hermione admitted. "I guess it's what gave me the push to finally be honest with myself, and him."

"So, maybe, it's been a good thing then?" Susan asked. "We all get a guy who will truly care for us and look after us. All we have to do is share him and do the same for him."

"Yeah." Hermione smiled. "And since I like you and Ginny and the others, it's not so bad."

Susan smiled back. "Yeah. This isn't so bad at all."


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

This story hasn't been abandoned either.

I've just been swamped with work and couldn't finish proofing this chapter until now.

Just to assure everyone, I'm going to finish this story.

And again, thank you to everyone who has kept following my work.

**Chapter 24**

John swung by the school on Friday morning but didn't expect to see Harry. He continued on to the Granger's. He and his wife had had a nice talk with Daniel and Emily the previous day. Katrina wanted to talk further about the challenges of raising a magical child. Because of this, she was now seated in the car next to him.

"Morning you two." Emily greeted them as she let them in and led them to the kitchen. "I haven't seen Harry yet, though Tonks is here."

John nodded. "I'm a little worried about her, him... Is it that confusing for you?"

Emily chuckled a little. "Sometimes. But Harry is Harry. It's hard not to care for him."

Tonks looked up from her coffee as they entered. "Sorry we're keeping you waiting. I think he's still in bed. I'll go wake him."

"Thanks, but he may need his sleep more." John replied.

"True. Yesterday was a little rough." Tonks agreed.

"Are you okay?" John asked.

"Yeah. It was rough, but nowhere near as bad as it could've been." Tonks answered.

John nodded. "Harry handled that situation quickly."

Tonks nodded back. "It could have been so much worse than it was."

"Indeed." Philip made his presence known from the doorway. "The real question will be how Harry handles this. It's possible he may lose his ability to fight out of fear of hurting someone."

"Yeah." Tonks agreed. "Auror's are taught about this and work in teams with Senior Aurors to have assistance with this. Harry's probably the most messed up kid imaginable, thanks to everything he's been through."

"We should check on him." Philip said.

"I'm sure Hermione has it well in hand." Tonks assured him. "She good at thinking ahead like that. Let's give him some more time to sleep, then I'll go check on him."

Philip nodded.

!HPEaSE!

Susan woke first. Her pillow was soft, warm, and moving gently. She opened her eyes and found herself staring at Hermione's face only a couple of inches in front of her. Susan blushed and looked away, down in this case. That was worse. Hermione's nightdress had been pulled off her shoulder and below her breast. Her modesty was only preserved by the small hand that was clasping it gently.

Susan managed to lift herself up to see the situation clearly. Her pillow had been one of Harry's breasts. When she had gone to sleep she had been holding Harry to her breasts, now their positions were reversed. To further her embarrassment, the nightdress they had put on Harry the night before had been pulled down to expose both of his breasts. She been covering one of Harry's breasts with her own head. Hermione's head was covering the other one.

She herself was in much the same situation as Hermione. One of Hermione's hands lifted with her as she sat up, clasped the fabric of her nightdress over her breast.

She gently freed herself from Hermione's grasp and pulled Harry's nightdress back up to cover his breast as best she could and lay back down next to him. As embarrassing as that was, at least she had woken up first and could regain her modesty. Now she would have a front row seat to the others embarrassment as they woke.

As luck would have it, Hermione woke next. She stirred and yawned and tried to rise but was blocked by the arm across her. She blinked and looked around.

"Morning Susan." She greeted the Hufflepuff quietly. "Sleep well?"

"Yes." Susan was actually surprised to realise. "Never better actually."

"The 'Harry Effect'." Hermione grinned. "I've noticed it too."

"There's something else I've noticed." Susan grinned back. "I just wonder how long it will take you to notice."

Hermione frowned thoughtfully. A quick glance around and she had her answers. With a sigh, she lifted her head and pulled up Harry's nightdress to cover his other breast. She had to keep using it as a pillow though, with Ginny behind her, she couldn't get enough room to move away. She also couldn't free her own breast from Ginny's grasp. Ginny just gripped harder when she tried.

Hermione gave up and rested back on Harry's breast. "I'll wait. If Harry wakes first then I'll deal with it. I'm not going to disturb Harry's rest over this."

Susan was surprised, and a little disappointed. "I was hoping for a better reaction."

Hermione grinned and cuddled Harry a little. "I'm actually quite comfy, when Ginny's not squeezing too hard."

"Really?" Susan was curious now.

"I'm not saying that I'd want her to just grab me but, right now, it's not so bad." Hermione relaxed into Harry and closed her eyes.

Susan had to admit that it looked nice and followed suit, again feeling Harry's warmth between beneath her head.

She sat up once she felt Harry stirring. "Morning."

"Mor...ning." Harry replied, mid yawn.

"Sleep well?" Hermione asked.

"Yes thanks." Harry replied. "What happened last night. I remember throwing up in the bathroom but that's it."

"I had Winky keeping an eye on you just in case. We cleaned you up and brought you to bed." Hermione explained.

"Thanks." Harry replied. "Wait, cleaned me up? And are you resting on my chest?"

"Uh, yeah." Hermione admitted. "I can't get up because Ginny has me pinned. I didn't wake her since I didn't want to disturb your sleep. We cleaned you up after you fell into your own vomit. We showered you and changed your clothes."

"Oh." Harry flushed. "Sorry. You shouldn't have had to do that."

"Nonsense." Hermione scolded him. "Of course we're going to help you."

"Okay. Thanks." Harry thanked them quietly.

"You're welcome." Susan told him.

"Now that you're awake..." Hermione pinched Ginny's hand.

Ginny yelped and jerked back.

Harry, looking down to see what was going on, got a glimpse of Hermione's suddenly bared breast and immediately looked away and closed his eyes.

Hermione used her space to sit up.

"What was that for?" Ginny protested, rubbing the back of her hand.

"It was the only way to make you let go of me." Hermione replied, twisting round to talk to the redhead and put her back towards Harry.

"Where was I holding you to deserve that sort of... oh, right, sorry." Ginny figured it out when she saw Hermione's misaligned top and exposed breast.

Hermione nodded to herself, happy her point was made, and pulled her top right.

"So, Harry, what have we planned for today?" She asked.

"I have a sword lesson this morning, then we have more prep work from tomorrows trip to the Gaunt Shack."

"Umm, you might be a little late for your lesson." Hermione commented.

Harry jerked up and saw the time. "Oh, crap."

He bounced out of bed and disappeared into the wardrobe. He reappeared, only seconds later, dressed in his martial arts uniform and vanished out of the room.

"That was quick." Hermione commented.

!HPEaSE!

Harry dashed through the kitchen and skidded to a halt as he saw John sitting at the table with his wife, Emily, Philip and Tonks.

"Sorry I'm so late." He apologise profusely.

"Don't worry about it." John waved his students concern away. "How are you feeling? Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, eventually. I had a rough start."

"To be expected." Philip nodded. "We'll talk later. Now, it's time for you to train."

Harry gulped when he saw both John and Philip standing up. "Both of you?"

"You'll have your regular training with me first." John explained. "Then you'll spar with both of us."

"We have to ensure you don't lose you combative edge." Philip explained.

Harry looked at both of the stern faces. "Oh, crap."

!HPEaSE!

Harry jumped aside as Philip lashed out with his short training blade and had to dodge again and John slashed at him with his training sword. Harry struggled to get some space but the two attacked relentlessly. For two people who had never fought together before, they were skilled and quick enough to adapt to each other's rhythms.

They were in the World Room in the muggle section, fighting through a street with several houses lining it.

Harry tapped into his power and jumped back further and found himself with his back against a house. They had managed to trap him. He had tried to fight back but the memories of the previous day kept haunting him. Philip and John didn't give him a moment to settle himself or run.

Harry looked around but they had him cornered. He didn't trust his ability to dodge past them directly without getting caught. Up... The roof... Harry didn't think further and pushed himself straight up, aiming to land on the roof. He grinned as he passed the roof line and started descending towards the roof. There he found he forgot something. Gravity.

He hit the roof harder than he expected and his knees buckled under him. His training had him rolling to absorb the impact and the slope of the roof sent him tumbling down and over the edge to crash onto the ground hard. Fortunately it wasn't a long fall and the ground was soft but it was still a harsh impact.

"Owww." Harry coughed. "That was a mistake."

"Well, the jump was a good idea, the landing left a lot to be desired though." John commented.

"Did you break anything?" Philip asked.

"I don't think so." Harry checked himself over.

"Good. Five seconds." Philip stated.

Harry looked up at the retired soldier and gulped at his serious expression. He forced his body to roll to his feet, just in time to block the next attack.

"Why don't you fight back!" Philip demanded.

"I can't." Harry protested as he rolled away from another attack.

"You can, you just don't." Philip countered.

"I'm trying dammit."

"No you're not." Philip stood back, staring Harry down. "You're frighten. You've killed the enemy and now you're terrified of what you're becoming."

Harry stared at him.

"Wondering how I know that?" Philip asked. "I've been there. I've killed and had to learn to cope with it. You killed in a fight. It's worse when you have to kill in cold blood. I've had to sneak up on an enemy and slit his throat before he even knew I was there. War is hell. It's a cliché, but it's the truth too."

"So, how do you cope?" Harry asked. "I keep seeing the spray of blood; feeling the blade cutting through flesh and bone. I'm scared to even touch the others sometimes in case I hurt them."

Harry dropped his practise sword and screwed his hands into fist and tucked them under his armpits and gripped them there falling to his knees. "How do you make it stop?"

"The cold truth is that you don't want it to end." Philip said quietly. "Because that's the day that killing becomes easy."

Harry looked up at the old soldiers words.

"So how do you keep fighting?" He asked.

"By remembering what you are fighting to protect." Philip's words struck home with stunning simplicity. "By remembering what will happen if we fail or give up."

Harry nodded as he thought the words over.

"Sometimes you have to be willing to sacrifice parts of yourself to protect those you care about?" Philip continued, seeing his words getting through to Harry. "In a time of war, the ones who fight pay a high price. We're never the same afterwards. But we remember why we're there and it gets us through."

Harry nodded. "I will protect them. No matter what happens to me."

"Then show me." Philip launched another attack.

This time Harry dodged and countered, finally able to force his anxiety aside. Philip rolled away and Harry was forced to block a strike from John, who had watched the previous exchange silently. Harry kept the blades engaged and used his power to push forward, knocking his Sensei off balance and gaining distance between him and Philip.

He still felt the vibrations through the his training blade but he was now able to focus past them and tune them out. Slowly, but surely, his counters and strikes regained their speed and fluidity and he began to hold his own against his two trainers.

!HPEaSE!

Harry crouched under the cover of some bushes.

Kingsley had swung by Friday evening to assess them and decided that they were advanced enough to make this trip. On Saturday, Kate had roped her sister, Ann, into driving her, Harry and Tonks out to Little Hangleton to have a quick look around the target area. This enabled Harry to create the Portkey that had brought them there the same evening. The Auror's, Harry and the girls and Bill and Fleur landed in a safe, private area and headed towards the shack under Disillusionment charms.

Harry had erected a very light, wide area detection ward around the area, carefully so as not to disrupt any wards around the shack they were approaching. The arrival of someone by Apparation now had the entire group buried in bushes, behind trees or rocks and lying prone, hoping the long unkempt grass would be enough to keep their disillusioned bodies from view of the new arrival.

It was with both relief and trepidation that they recognised the person ambling into view. Albus Dumbledore.

"Damn." Harry grumbled quietly. "He's going to notice us, isn't he."

Kingsley, crouched next to Harry at the spear head of the group, nodded. "Probably. He's been around a long time, it takes a lot to surprise him."

Indeed Dumbledore had notice their presence, even if he didn't know who was there just yet. He had drawn his wand and with a quick movement had Susan, on the flank with Luna and Hestia, pulled from her position and her identity revealed.

"Miss Bones. This is unexpected." Albus commented in his usual grandfather tone. "My I ask why you are here?"

Harry saw little point in hiding from an 'ally' with a team member's cover blown and could risk said member being forced to leave compromising the team. He whispered to Kingsley. "I'm going out."

"Okay." Kingsley replied.

Harry broke cover and stated firmly. "She's with me. And I guess we are here for the same reason you are."

"Harry, you shouldn't be here. It's far too dangerous." Albus replied sternly. "You should leave immediately, and take all your friends with you."

Harry stared him down. "No. And stay out of our way. Everyone, move out!"

Everyone broke cover and resumed formation as they completed their journey.

Susan took a moment to whisper to Harry. "Sorry about that. I ruined it for everyone."

Harry shook his head. "I would have been more surprised if he hadn't found us. He's got far more experience than us at the moment. Don't worry, we'll get our own back."

Susan gave him a grateful smile, her good spirits and confidence returning as she rejoined Luna and Hestia.

Harry stopped the group at the edge of the wards protecting the shack and started looking them over with Bill.

"So, what do you reckon?" Bill asked.

"Pretty simple for the most part but there are a couple of nasty surprises. Shouldn't take too much work to slip through them." Harry answered.

"I agree." Bill nodded. "Albus? Do you have anything to add?"

"I don't think you should be here." Albus said.

"He was asking about the wards, not if we should be here." Harry snapped. "He didn't think a man of your stature need the clarification."

There were several people stifling laughter at Harry words.

Albus gave Harry an admonishing look but saw it had no effect. "There are several nasty things that will happen if you make a mistake."

Harry shrugged. "It's actually pretty sloppy. Powerful but sloppy. Voldemort must have relied on intimidation and brute strength rather than any real finesse and skill."

"That's sounds like him." Kingsley nodded.

"Don't underestimate him Harry." Albus scolded.

"I'm not, but we won't find out anymore until we get started." Harry snapped back. "Hermione, Padma."

The two girls approached him and stood on either side of him. Fleur flanked Bill to provide the same support to him.

With that Harry and Bill started shifting the wards. Their training together over the last week had allowed them to develop the beginnings of a rapport that allowed them to work together will only a little prompting.

"They won't be able to break the wards so easily." Albus shook his head.

"They aren't trying to." Kingsley countered. "They're pulling them apart and making a hole. When they're done they'll close the hole and no one will know we were here."

Albus stared at the group working at the wards in shock. Harry and Bill pulled at strands of energy, handing some off to the waiting witches to hold while they shifted to work on another section. Eventually Padma and Fleur were standing either side of at substantial hole in the ward.

"We're done here. Breach team with me." Kingsley stated.

He, Harry, Hestia, Bill, Hermione, Ginny and Daphne stepped through the hole. Tonks kept Luna and Susan on watch with Hannah and Tracy standing guard by the two vulnerable witches. Albus invited himself along, following the gender altered wizard.

Harry led the way, scanning for wards as he went. He stopped them a short distance from the house.

"The ground's been trapped." He told them. "Looks really nasty too. Give me a minute."

Harry manipulated the ward and gestured for Hermione to hold the new gap open. He then led them forward, right up to the door of the shack. He and Bill worked on these wards and Bill took the strain while Harry nudged the door open.

He scanned the interior carefully. "I think we're okay. Daphne, there is another ward cluster across the room, over the fireplace. Can you do a scan?"

Daphne nodded and quietly cast the detection spell. "Found it. Over the fireplace."

"Found what?" Albus interrupted.

"A Horcrux." Daphne answered.

"And how do you know of such things?" Albus demanded sternly.

"The Greengrass' are considered a Dark family for a reason." Daphne fired back. "There are a number of families that would know of such things, they just despise them so much they keep that information hidden away. It's an absolutely vile creation."

"Indeed." Albus agreed. "But if Voldemort finds out that we know of them he will retaliate, badly."

"Why do you think I'm trying to minimise the disturbance to the wards?" Harry stated. "If we do this right He'll never know the wards have been disturbed and not actually check to see if his Horcrux is here."

"It seems I have underestimated you Harry." Albus said sadly. "Perhaps I have handled this situation incorrectly."

"Later." Harry snapped as he studied the fireplace. "This will be tricky."

"What is it?" Ginny asked.

"He's actually shown some talent with this." Harry replied. "He's wrapped the wards around a box to hide it and they'll trip if it's moved or opened. I think he's tied a strand to the object inside as well. Let me think a sec."

Harry studied the wards further, gently brushing them to see how they moved.

He laughed suddenly. "He didn't anchor them properly."

A few whips of his wand and Harry opened the box. "Easy. Now, can I have something to swap with this thing? A real object, not a transfigured one."

Albus handed a stone over. "Will this do?"

"Yeah." Harry concentrated and shifted the anchor point of the wards from the object in the box to the stone. "Done. Now we just have to remove it."

Bill stopped them. "Here, put it in this."

He handed a secure box over to Ginny. Ginny was carrying it over to Harry when Harry suddenly swore.

#SMACK!# #Ting# #ting# #ting# #ting ting# #tingtingtingtingtingting#

Albus had been studying the contents of the box and suddenly reached in and grabbed it. Harry had seen him about to put what looked like a ring on his finger and smacked him across the back of the head, causing the aged wizard to lose his hold on it.

"You dumb-arse bastard. Do you really think putting that thing on is a good idea?" Harry shouted.

"Where did it go?" Ginny asked, looking around worriedly.

Daphne cast her spell again and pointed it out in a far corner. "Wait, let Harry check that area first."

Ginny nodded and watched Harry place the stone in the box and return the wards to their original layout. He did a quick check around the corner and nodded. Ginny opened the box and used her foot to nudge the ring into the box and closed the box securely.

"Got it. Let's get out of here before anything else goes wrong." She told everyone.

Harry agreed heartily and motioned for everyone to rejoin Tonks. He and Bill followed last, reversing their work as they went and releasing the witches holding the words in place from their task.

With one final check Harry nodded and led the group to their exit point, released his own ward covering the area and placed his hand on the premade Portkey Hermione offered.

A single tap of the witch's wand and the group was whisked away to safety.

They landed in Hermione's front yard to the worried faces of Hermione's family.

"Did anyone get hurt?" Daniel asked urgently. "Are you all alright?"

"Yeah," Harry answered, "except for Dumbledore here having a lump on the back of his head, but he deserved that."

"Dumbledore?" Daniel repeated in shock. "What was he doing there? And here?"

"Same thing as us." Ginny replied. "Just not as well."

"I'll take that Harry." Albus reached for the box.

Harry slapped his hand away. "We'll deal with it now. Daphne, it's your research that's gotten us so far, I think this one is yours."

Harry pulled one of his basilisk fang knives and offered it to the busty Slytherin hilt first.

Daphne nodded and took it. Harry spilled the ring out on to the paved path and stepped back to let Daphne have enough room to stab it.

Harry pulled her back quickly as the black smoke and evil aura flooded out of the dying Horcrux and the entire group watched it until it had faded completely.

"If I ever needed a reason to know you're doing the right thing, that was it." Philip stated. "I've never felt so unclean in my life just being in its presence."

"I think we could all use a shower after that." Hermione said tiredly.

Padma nodded from where she sat on the grass, too exhausted to even speak. Even Fleur was sprawled on the grass, her hair dulled and lifeless in response to her lack of energy.

"Winky?" Tracy called for the elf. "Can you get Pepper Up potions for Hermione, Padma and Fleur. Harry, Bill, are you two okay?"

Harry nodded but Bill shook his head and asked for a potion as well.

Winky nodded and popped off and retrieved the four vials of potion and handed them out. The wizard and the three witches drank them down quickly, feeling revitalised as steam flooded from their ears.

"I'll take the ring, if you don't mind." Albus reached for it.

Harry bet him to it and slipped it back in the box. "Just because the Horcrux has been destroyed doesn't mean all the protections have gone with it. You've already proved too susceptible to it."

"But I need to investigate it further." Albus protested.

"Then you can wait until it's safe to do so." Harry fired back. "If there's nothing else, it's time for you to leave."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not leaving without the ring." Albus said sternly.

"To ring, or the stone." Luna piped up suddenly.

That caught Albus of guard and left him fighting for a response.

"Is there something special about that stone?" Harry looked confused. "It didn't look special."

"It just something I want to check." Albus tried to cover himself.

"What are you trying to find out?" Harry probed.

"It's just a theory."

"I've had enough of your theories." Harry growled. "They're just an excuse you use so you don't have to tell people anything. Good! Bye!"

Harry turned and helped Padma up and escorted her inside, leading the way for the others.

Albus tried to follow but the stern faces of Dobby and Winky blocked his way.

"Master Harry wishes you to leave." Dobby stated firmly. "Please do so now."

Albus knew that fighting against these two elves would be both pointless and counterproductive and so allowed them to escort in off the premises.

!HPEaSE!

"So, how did we do?" Harry asked as the group settled in the lounge.

"Very well." Kingsley replied. "Efficient, professional. You held your positions when Susan was discovered instead of just jumping out. I'm impressed with how you handled the wards too."

"That was some of the best ward handling I've seen." Bill complemented everyone. "Everyone worked very well together."

Kingsley resumed talking. "You lacked a little of the crispness and fluidity of a seasoned team but that's something that you can only get with time."

"But you're further along that I would ever have expected." Bill finished.

"Thank you." Harry replied gratefully.

The girls all exchanged proud looks as they smiled happily at the praise for the successful mission.

"Don't get too caught up." Kingsley admonished them. "Never expect a mission to go smoothly. Just because you escaped having to fight this time, doesn't mean next time you'll be so lucky."

The smiles on the girls faces dimmed at the warning words. Harry's expression didn't change, he was already far too aware of that simple fact.

"So, what's our next move?" Harry asked.

"We work on your teamwork and come up with some training exercises. You still need to increase the number of spells you know, but I think you can be trusted to work alone for that for most of the spells." Kingsley answered. "We need some training scenarios too."

"We still need to search the houses I've inherited, and we were looking at visiting Knockturn Alley and seeing what we can find, both for ourselves and to keep away from the Death Eaters." Harry suggested. "The houses have had the wards redone by Gringotts so they should be reasonably safe."

"Good idea. Work out a schedule and we'll plan some things. Knockturn Alley will be a good live training ground without too much danger." Kingsley pondered. "Just not yet though."

Harry nodded. "We'll work something out and let you know."

Kingsley stood. "Good. Now, we should get going. You did well today, get some rest."

"That's a very good idea." An exhausted Hermione agreed.

!HPEaSE!

They just got busier after that.

With all their equipment now delivered, they mixed up their study and the various physical training they were doing. The joint experience from their mission to retrieve the Horcrux boosting their drive to succeed even further.

Their training was mixed up with practical exercises. They began hunting around the various houses that Harry had 'acquired'. Starting with the Malfoy properties. Narcissa, knowing most of them acted as a guide and would help by drawing plans of the houses. Tonks, Hestia and Philip would offer advice but mostly let the students work alone and correct their decreasing number of mistakes as they planned their visits carefully.

Hestia was pissed during their first excursion. She had been a part of more than one of the searches of Malfoy Manor, the main house of the Malfoy family, and found nothing. Harry hit the floor of the study as soon as they had confirmed the room was clear and found the hidden door in minutes. Beneath it was a treasure trove of dark objects, enough to get Lucius thrown in Azkaban for a very long time, if he wasn't already there.

A more sinister find was the body of a girl, beginning to decompose in a deeper room. Checks determined that she had probably died a few days before the debacle at the Department of Mysteries. That had taken the pressure of Harry, who had felt very guilty at the thought that she had starved to death after he had taken control of the house and done nothing to search it until weeks later. Narcissa was horrified that her former husband had been doing such things, and in the same house she had lived. She may not have liked muggles but she had never liked torture. To see what Lucius had been capable of had shocked her to the core and reinforced her choice to support her new Head of Family.

That wasn't the only such find, though there were only a couple of others; both of which were much older. There were a number of sites where it was obvious that they had been used for such purposes. Kingsley assigned an Auror team to investigate the sites and pull all the information from them possible. Harry happily gave the team full access to the sites where they were found, seriously considering destroying the houses once the investigations were complete. No one felt comfortable even being in those houses let alone think of living there. Even Narcissa wasn't in a hurry to return home to Malfoy Manor after the find there.

In the end, they just packed up the libraries and anything else they felt necessary and left, hoping to never have to return. Except, perhaps, to destroy the accursed places.

The Potter houses were much happier in that regard but not in other ways. The while mostly furnished, they obviously hadn't been visited in decades. The Portraits were happy to see the new Potter Lord and told many stories of their own times but the stories Harry wanted were not to be found; those of his parents.

The Manor that his father had grown up in had been stripped, its contents now stored in a vault, Harry surmised, for protection. The house he had lived in, and his parents had died in, was a blown out wreck. The girls had hung back as Harry slowly looked around the house where his future had taken a massive turn for the worst. He stood silently for a long time in the nursery where his mother had died, tears streaming down his face, before Hermione and Daphne had gently taken his hands and led him back outside where they Apparated him back home.

!HPEaSE!

The mood was dark and morale was low. After everything they had experienced exploring the houses Harry had inherited from the dark families it was understandable. The girls weren't fighting but their tempers were shortened and more than once one of them would suddenly storm off to find some quiet rather than explode at an undeserving target. Even Hermione struggled to stay focused on her studies and the horrors they discovered haunted them in both waking moments and restless sleep.

Harry threw himself into his training with a disturbing intensity, driving himself past the brink of exhaustion every day. He was almost unapproachable and very short with anyone who wasn't actively training him. That combined with his increased nightmares was wearing him down to the point where everyone was starting to really worry about him. His only response to people telling him to slow down was that he had to make sure no one else suffered like the innocent's they had found.

The adults did their best to council the students and they did make slow progress, with everyone but Harry. They just couldn't penetrate his need to protect everyone and end the war quickly. He had felt the deaths of Cedric and Sirius so keenly that the still unidentified bodies they found and the remnants of previous victims gashed his still open wound into a vast chasm.

That's not to say that his efforts were going to waste. Harry's duelling ability was improving rapidly and he had achieved his third animagus form, the white tiger he associated with his mother, and his fourth form, Prongs. His next form would be Padfoot. His personal homage to those who had sacrificed so much for him.

It was Kate who found the solution from an unusual source. Some friends from her previous school gotten in touch with her and, in the process of catching up, told her about an excellent surfing spot they had found. It was hard to get to, being a sandy cove at the bottom of a cliff, but it was private, practically unknown and had some great surf.

She raised this option with the adults and they thought it would be good idea for them to get away for a bit. The sand would be a good training platform for them and surfing would be good for balance training. And it would get them having fun again.

So, using the special training pretext, they got the teens heading for the secluded beach with Tonks. Kate and Emma snuck away together to get wetsuits and surfboards for the group and Winky was recruited to assemble their swimwear. They assembled at the cliff top and took the easy way down by Apparating.

That was when the truth was sprung on them. The girls got the message the headed off to the far end to change into their swimwear behind towels and begin the basic lessons on how to ride the surf boards.

Harry, feeling how the sand moved under his feet, insisted on trying his high speed movement training on the shifting surface. It was a struggle to both get the footing needed to launch himself and to get the grip to land safely. He spent nearly as much time getting sand out of his clothes as he did training but he made progress and was soon able to jump properly on the shifting surface.

At this point he stopped to look for the others and was treated to the sight of watching them fight their way into their new wetsuits. As warm as the day and water was, it would be too easy to get cold without the extra protection. They had a lot of 'fun' getting into one and keeping the sand out at the same time.

"Are you sure these are the right sizes?" Daphne complained as she struggled to squeeze her well endowed body into the tight suit.

Kate inspected her wet suit's tags. "Yup, though I don't think they expected someone to have your proportions. These suits are made to be skin tight."

"Does it ever get easier to put them on?" Susan asked from where she was struggling.

"A little." Kate grinned. "Just be thankful these are the light weight suits. The heavier suits are worse."

"I vote we never do this when it's cold." Tracy spoke up immediately.

"Aye." The other girls chorused causing everyone else to laugh.

Kate worked Harry through the same basic lessons, his heightened sense of balance and martial arts training allowed him to complete them quicker than the others and he treated them to the view of him fighting to get the skin-tight wetsuit onto his female body.

Kate, much more practised at this though still no expert herself, was ready much quicker. "Everyone ready? Then lets hit the waves."

Kate led them out into the light surf. The sea was calmer at the moment and the waves were more suited for beginners. As such she didn't have as much fun and focused on helping the others learn the little tricks navigate the waves on the way out and surf back in. Or at least try to. They were really good at falling off their boards, to Kate's amusement. She got them headed back to land to rest for a while when she saw a group of people carrying boards down a very narrow track to the beach.

"Hey Johnny." Kate called out to them. "I didn't think you lot were coming today."

"Hi Kate. The latest forecast showed their might be some better waves later on." The young man, Johnny, look around at the others on the beach. "I didn't think you would be bringing the kiddie patrol here when I told you about this place."

"Hey." Kate protested. "Back off. They're friends of mine. They've been through a rough patch and I though surfing might give them some much needed fun."

"I'm not complaining." Johnny grinned. "I know you wouldn't just spread a prime surf spot around. They just seem a little younger than you normally hang out with."

"They're probably the most interesting group I've ever hung out with." Kate replied.

"More interesting than us? I'm hurt. Well, you can at least introduce us. Some of them are petty cute." Johnny looked the assembled group over.

"And you have no shot with any of them." Kate shot him down. "Besides aren't you with Beth?"

"Yes he is." The girl bringing up the rear finally joined them and smacked Johnny across the back of the head. "Trying to trade me in on a younger model already."

"You know me better than that." Johnny turned his grin on Beth.

"You know that doesn't work on me." Beth smacked across the back of his head again. "I don't know why I put up with you sometimes."

"Because you love me, and you know I love you and will never betray you." Johnny turned serious.

Beth smiled. "I know. So, Kate, introduce us."

"Sorry. These are my friends from school. They all went on to University but I wasn't sure what to study and took a gap year. "Johnny is studying Architecture and Elizabeth is studying doing an MBA. Their dating, as you might of guessed. Those two are Mike and Catharine. Mike's studying Law and Cathy is studying Marketing and Sales. The last two are Bill and Charlotte, they're both studying Medicine. I'm surprised you managed to drag them away from their books."

"You know I prefer Charlie." Charlotte replied, "We needed a break anyway. Healthy mind, health body and all that. Why is she laughing?"

Ginny was giggling slightly. "Sorry, it's just Bill and Charlie... My two oldest brothers are called Bill and Charlie. I had an... odd visual there."

Charlie grimaced. "I didn't need that thought. Is there a problem with how I prefer to be called?"

"No." Ginny shook her head. "My name is Ginevra but I much prefer Ginny. I'm not going to judge. Neither is Harriet or Nymphadora."

"Oh, you're paying for that missy." Tonks growled and chased after the young red-head.

"She really doesn't like her name." Harry commented as they watched Tonks try and catch the nimble girl. "I prefer to be called Harry."

"Nice to meet you Harry." Charlie favoured him with a grin. "So who are the others?"

Harry introduced the magical contingent and Emma.

"How did you all meet?" Beth asked. "I wouldn't think you would hang out in the same circles."

"Harry and I study martial arts under the same instructor. We just so of got on and I met hi... #cough#... sorry, I met her friends from school and it sort of went from there. Turns out that Hermione went to school with my little sister too, not that she's friends with that little brat." Kate covered her mistake well.

"So, teaching them to surf?" Mike asked.

"First lesson. The waves are good for them at the moment. We're just taking a break." Kate told him.

"Have they hit themselves in the face with their own boards yet?"

"No, I think they might just avoid them humiliation." Kate grumped. "At least you still hold the record."

"Oi." Mike protested.

"At least you picked a good day for it." Cathy looked out at the waves. "These are perfect waves for beginners. You should take advantage of them while they last. When the good waves arrive you'll have a real problem catching one."

"Just give us five minutes." Hannah protested.

"Want us to come out and give some pointers?" Bill asked. "It's not like we'll be doing anything until later."

"Hey, no perving." Charlie swotted her boyfriends arm.

"Give me some credit." Bill protested. "Even if I wasn't with you, I wouldn't flirt with underage girls."

"Really?" Charlie nodded pointedly at Harry's breasts, obvious even through the confines of his wetsuit.

"You trying hitting on me and I'll kick your arse." Harry growled.

"She can do it too." Kate added with a grin. "Come on, that's enough of a break. If you can manage to catch some of these smaller ones then you can try the larger ones when they arrive."

They all hit the waves again, the new arrivals happily offering pointers to help them learn quicker. Harry managed it first with Ginny and Daphne tying in second place. They all had at least some success before they stopped for lunch under a simple shelter Emma and Tonks had setup.

The elves usual over efficiency ensured there was enough food to share with Kate's friends. Though they had brought some stuff of their own, they were happy to be included in with the overly well-catered group. They chatted for a while, letting their meal settle before returning to the waves. Waves that were starting to get bigger.

Most of the girls were still struggling and resorted to staying flat as they rode the waves in. Ginny and Daphne, still game, tried the stay on their feet and, after many failed attempts, began to managed it more often than not. Harry was doing the best. His increased sense of balance allowed his to adjust to the shifting board much better than the others. Hermione and Padma were the real surprises, doing nearly as well as Ginny and Daphne, but resorting to lying flat after several semi-successful attempts to ride the growing waves.

Harry was doing well enough that Johnny had actually started to teach him a few simple tricks. Bill listened in and gave a few additional pointers when he felt his friends explanation was a little lacking. Charlie joined them and listened in but was distracted by a shape flying in the distance.

"Hey, what's that thing?" She pointed. "It seems pretty big for how far away it looks."

"Yeah." Johnny shielded his eyes to get a better look. "Dunno. It's moving at a fair clip though."

"I think it just turned this way too." Harry added as the shape's profile changed.

"I guess we'll find out what it is soon then." Charlie grinned in anticipation.

Harry kept studying the growing shape with increasing worry. "I hope we don't regret it."

Harry recognised the shape first. "Oh shit."

The creature's speed meant that the three muggles gain equal recognition not long after him.

"That can't be what I think it is." Bill shook his head as if trying to clear a hallucination.

"I think it is." Johnny gulped. "And I think it's about to attack us."

The three muggles suddenly grabbed their ears as Harry enhanced voice shouted back towards land. "Incoming!"

Harry focused back on the approaching beast. A Dragon. Not one he was familiar with though. Smaller, and hopefully weaker.

He reached for the full extent of his power and forced the air to spin in front of him, like a horizontal tornado running lengthways in front of him. As he felt the increasing wind whip around him he increased his focus and reduced the spread of the swirling wind even as he increased its speed and lowered it into the water.

The intensely spinning air was basically a horizontal tornado and forced torrents of water up into the air in front of it, creating a long wall that blocked the approaching dragon from view behind the turbulent mix of water and air.

The dragon made its presence known almost immediately and the white, wind-whipped water turned red, steam exploding up over the top of the wall. The heat could still be felt through the mass of water. Only the constant influx on new water kept the weakening wall intact until the beast reached it and, losing sight of the wall in all the steam, crashed through.

Harry abandoned the now useless wall and brought his power to bare on the dragon directly in the form of the most powerful stunner he could manage. The bright beam of red light struck the large creature on the aft part of its stomach.

The dragon had been stunned slightly by the wall of water and its flight destabilised. It was struggling to regain control when Harry's powerful spell struck. While its hide was strong enough to ward off most of the supercharged spell's effect, it couldn't block it all causing the dragon to suffer more disorientation and begin to tumble slightly in the air.

The most crushing blow came when, unable to control its path, it flew directly into the cliff that towered over the small beach they were using. Stone shattered sending shards cascading across the sand and the dragon's neck and shoulder slammed into the cliff face at full force. The dragon's body flattened across the stone wall and then slumped and fell to the sandy floor.

Harry Apparated back to the beach and tore the ankle cuff free to toss the surf board aside. He didn't bother with his wand as he send multiple stunners directly into the dragon's skull in the attempt to ensure the dragon was, and would remain, unconscious.

Hannah and Tracy, having been in the shallows, were the first to join him, following his lead with the constant barrage of stunners. Tonks was close behind, delayed by the need to shield Emily from the flying stone shards and then clear them from the beach to protect the bare-footed group. The others followed Harry's lead and Apparated to shore, discarded the boards and sent their own spells into the mix to ensure the massive creature stayed down.

"I think that's enough." Luna's eerily calm voice stopped their casting.

"Welsh Green." Ginny identified the dragon. "I wonder where it came from, there aren't any reserves around here."

"Is it dead?" Kate asked quietly. She had returned to shore and was keeping her friends back a safe distance to let the witches and gender-altered wizard work.

"Dunno." Tonks looked it over. "Possibly. It hit the cliff pretty damn hard but dragons are amazingly tough so it could have survived."

"I think it is." Ginny was also looking it over carefully. "It doesn't look to be breathing."

"Could someone please explain what just happened?" Cathy asked in a shaky voice.

No one had time to answer. The sound of multiple cracks warned of new people Apparating in. The dozen dark robed people looked the dragon over.

"I told you I saw it head over here." A gloating, sneering voice sounded.

"Shut it. The Dark Lord isn't going to be pleased that his dragon is dead. We have to get it back now." A second, harsher, voice snapped.

"What about them?" A wizard with nasal tones pointed to the group already on the beach.

The second wizard glanced at the group in obviously non-magical clothing. "Muggles. Kill them."

All hell broke loose.

Harry began reaching for his power as soon as the group of wizards mentioned Voldemort, calling him the Dark Lord. He unleashed it when the wizard that seemed to be in charge gave his order to kill them.

A concussion wave of air slammed into the group of dark wizards, kicking up masses of sand as it went. Only a couple of the wizards had the reaction speed to cover their faces with their sleeves and shield themselves, the rest went flying, screaming as the sand was driven into their eyes.

Harry followed up with a barrage of stunners, targeting the two who remained standing. Tonks joined in immediately and the girls quickly follow suit. The wizards were easy targets and were dropped rapidly by the masses of spell fire.

"Team two, cover the civilians, team one cover me and Harry. Harry, go left, I'll go right." Tonks ordered.

Tracy and Padma immediately pulled Kate and her friends back away from the action while Hermione and Hannah covered them. Ginny and Daphne paired up and moved to the side slightly while Susan and Luna did the same, moving the other way. Harry and Tonks skirted the battle field widely and slowly approached the downed wizards at a wide angle to ensure everyone's field of fire remained clear.

Tonks stepped closer and carefully bound each of the wizards and was about to close the gap when Harry stopped her.

"Hang on a sec." He told her. "Let me put some wards up."

"Good idea." Tonks nodded approvingly.

Harry quickly raised some wards to block Apparation and Port-keys over a large section of the beach to provide them a safety net. He also ensured the wards wouldn't block Tonks or the girls, just in case.

Double checking his work he nodded to Tonks. "Done. Go for it."

"I'll call for backup first." Tonks replied, sending a flicker of silver away. "I'm not sure what's going to happen to our new friends though."

"I might have something that can help." Harry replied.

"Should we evacuate?" Daphne called out.

"We should be okay." Tonks replied. "These guys seemed to be operating alone and aren't where they should be. I don't think they'll find us any time soon."

"I hope not." Harry growled. "I'm not happy about hanging around here. Can someone pack everything up, please?"

Emily called back. "I'll do it, if I can get some help?"

"I'll help." Padma said.

"Me too." Kate added.

The two picked up all the scattered surfboards and brought them over to the campsite. Emily was packing everything away and Padma began shrinking the big items to assist. They had everything away before reinforcements arrived.

Shacklebolt lead the arriving contingent, who tensed as they found themselves staring down the lengths of the half-a-dozen wands.

A quick identity check later and the Auror's under Shacklebolt's command quickly picked up the downed wizards and spirited them away.

"I've put a call into the Dragon Reserve's to find out who's missing a dragon." Shacklebolt commented as he oversaw the operation. "I'm impressed you all managed to defeat it."

"It was mostly Harry." Tonks grinned. "He put it into the cliff straight up. We barely had to do anything other than make sure it stayed down."

Kingsley grinned at Harry. "Nicely done, Harry. I hope you at least had the chance to have some fun."

"Some." Harry shrugged.

Kingsley studied the gender altered wizard. He knew how much stress and pressure he was under. "What are we going to do about your muggle friends?"

"I think I know a way of protecting the information without needing to remove their memories," Harry said tiredly, "so we can give them the option."

"As long as the Statue of Secrecy is maintained then I'll leave it in your capable hands." Kingsley agreed.

Another series of rapid pop signalled the arrival of more wizards, wearing full robes with hoods, escorted by an Auror. After verifying their identities the Auror's allowed the new arrivals to approach the dragon.

"Why haven't these muggles been gotten rid of?" The lead wizard snapped. "Obliviate them and get them out of here."

There was a flash and the wizard fell back to the sand clutching at his face as his own mucus poured out of his nose and formed into bats that flapped at his face.

Another wizard pushed his hood back revealing familiar red hair and studied the spells effects and them looked around the assembled people and smiled as he recognised one to them.

"Hey Ginny. What are you doing here?"

"Charlie." Ginny burst into a smile as she ran forward to hug her brother. "What are you doing here?"

"The local dragon reserve needed some assistance and with what's been happening I wanted to be closer to home, so I volunteered." Charlie explained as he hugged his little sister back.

"Well, it's good to see you, even in the company of this prat." Ginny grinned.

"That 'prat' is my boss." Charlie looked uncomfortable. "Don't you think you went a little over the top?"

"After being attacked by a dragon and several Death Eaters in the space of a few minutes... No!" Ginny snapped.

"Yeah, okay, I'll give you that one." Charlie looked her over. "You're not hurt are you?"

"Not even a scratch." Ginny assured him. "Now, why haven't you written back to me?"

"Because I haven't found anything to tell you." Charlie answered. "None of my studies or research has indicated any information on the type of dragon you asked about. I would've told you that last weekend when I went to the Burrow for dinner but you don't seem to live there anymore."

"No, I'm living with Harry and Hermione at her place at the moment." Ginny explained. "And you could have written to at least say hi."

"I know, sorry. Bill explained to me about you moving out." Charlie commented. "I know you're safe since he helped with the wards and said he might actually feel sorry for a Death Eater trying to attack you."

"If you knew, why didn't you visit?" Ginny demanded.

"Because he couldn't tell me where you were since he only knew via work and he can't pass that information on." Charlie explained.

"Didn't Dad tell you?"

"He tried, but Mum got in the way." Charlie sighed.

The 'prat' finally managed to get back on his feet and grabbed at the short redhead. "Who are you, brat, to hex me?"

He might have had more to say but Harry stepped in and caught the man's hand in a wrist lock, driving him to his knees. "Can we just focus on the dragon please?"

The man nodded rapidly as he grunted in pain.

"Good." Harry release him.

"Thanks, Harry." Ginny gave him a smile.

"Harry?" Charlie looked the gender altered wizard over. "Right, I won't be hitting on you then."

"Wise choice." Harry rolled his eyes. "The dragon?"

"Dead." Charlie said sadly. "Broken neck. I guess it flew into the cliff?"

"I helped a little, but yeah."

"I figured something happened. They don't normally fly into cliff's on their own." Charlie studied the dragon some more. "Such a waste."

"Get it ready for transport." Charlie's boss ordered. "We'll take it back to the reserve and deal with it there. It can at least be used for additional funding."

"I seem to remember a Statue about claims on slaying a wild magical beast in self defence." Kingsley interrupted. "In this situation, doesn't the body go to the one who killed it?"

The Reserve Boss' head snapped round to glare at the Auror. Recognising the new Head DMLE he stifled a rude response.

"If she wants the carcass then she can process it herself. My people will not help her. And since we are in a muggle area, you have a time limit. We don't need 'more' people seeing it." He gave a sneer. "If you don't have it out of here in an hour you lose."

"Dobby!" Harry shrugged and summoned the excitable elf. "Go to Gringotts and let The Assessor know I have a dragon for him to pick up, within an hour please. After that, bring the books and notes from the desk in my study."

"At once." Dobby bowed and vanished.

"Winky's managed to get him trained up nicely." Ginny chuckled.

Dobby returned five minutes later with half a dozen goblins. He handed two books and a stack of notes to Harry and vanished again.

"Ah, Master Warrior Potter." The Assessor greeted him warmly. "Another conquest. Another epic tale for us to go with it perhaps?"

"Not this time sorry." Harry apologised. "Wall of water, stunning spell, cliff. End of story. The whole thing took about that long too."

"An efficient victory, but not as profitable." The Assessor looked over to where his subordinates were prepping the beast for transport. "I assume you'll want the hide and useful parts. I'll take the payment for collecting those out of the value of the meat. We should be able to deliver them to you in a couple of days."

"Thank you. You're overly efficient as always." Harry grinned.

The Assessor laughed. "I think we are about done here. I'll see you Sunday as usual. Later Harry."

The goblin rejoined his team and they fumbled around for a minute.

"Um," one goblin called out, "did someone raise a Port-key ward?"

"Sorry. Just a sec." Harry called back. "I didn't notice it covered the dragon as well."

A flick of his wand later he nodded to the goblins and they vanished.

"I think we should be going too." Harry commented. "Is everything packed up?"

"We've got everything packed up." Padma told him. "We can go whenever you're ready."

Harry nodded. "Kate, your friends need to come with us for the moment."

"Okay. I think we'll all be glad to get out of here." Kate gave a small shudder.

"We'll Apparate to the top of the cliff." Harry said. "I don't fancy the climb at the moment."

"Apparate?" Johnny asked, slightly bewildered.

"Yeah, like this. It might be a bit uncomfortable." Harry grabbed his arm firmly and the pair vanished.

Ginny grinned. "Charlie, meet my brother Charlie. Charlie, this is my new friend Charlie. See you later."

Charlie Weasley looked a little confused by the greeting and then gaped as Ginny took the young muggle woman's arm and Apparated away. "She can Apparate:? When did she learn that?"

"This summer, I helped teach her." Tonks answered as she took Emily's arm and vanished.

The other of the group did the same, the stronger each taking on of Kate's friends with them.

!HPEaSE!

Johnny let out a gasp as his vision cleared showing they were at the top of the cliff where two cars were parked.

"My god. That was... that was..." Johnny struggled for words.

"A bit uncomfortable but you get used to it." Harry said. "At least I end up on my feet unlike the other method available."

"That was a rush." Johnny stared at the busty red-haired girl in front of him. "Can we do that again?"

"No." Beth answered, looking a little pale from her own trip with Daphne.

"I didn't think it was that bad." Charlie commented. "No worse than a rollercoaster."

"You know I suffer claustrophobia." Beth snapped back.

"Oh, shit, yeah." Charlie immediately dashed over to support her. "Come on, sit down and breathe."

Harry pulled out the books and notes Dobby had brought him and looked them over. He could feel Johnny still staring at him and, annoyed, shifted to his male form.

"What the fuck?" Johnny exclaimed, falling back.

Everyone looked around and noticed the new person, male with short dark hair, standing where the busty red-haired girl had been. The real confusion was that he was wearing the same wetsuit which was now stretched differently.

"It that Harry?" Beth asked, forgetting her discomfort from being Apparated.

Kate nodded. "Yup. That's why I told you that you had nothing to worry about. Harry will give a serious arse-kicking to any guy who hits on him."

Hermione had joined Harry and was looking through the notes over his shoulder. "What is this?"

"It's what my Dad was working on before he died, I think." Harry answered. "It's a way to lock memories and knowledge behind a mental ward so that they cannot be release to anyone without permission. I think he wanted to use this in conjunction with the Fidlious but didn't manage to work it out in time."

"It's a better option than Obliviating them." Hermione agreed.

"Umm, what's going on?" Johnny had backed off.

"You just stumbled on something you aren't supposed to know. You can either have the memories of it removed or I can seal the knowledge so you can't tell anyone without permission." Harry explained.

"That second one sounds better." Mike commented.

"The only problem with that is that I'm the only one who can do it, and I've never done it before." Harry admitted. "With having your memories removed there are professionals who do it so there is no risk."

"Will I have my memories sealed too right?" Kate asked.

"It would be better." Harry admitted. "It would also provide you some protection from those with the ability to read your mind."

"What is actually going on?" Charlie demanded.

"Magic is real, so are Unicorns, Dragons and other magical creatures. The Magical World lives parallel to the one you know with very little interaction normally and has done so for centuries. The guy's we took out on the beach belong to a group called Death Eaters and work for a self-styled Dark Lord who calls himself Voldemort." Harry gave a brief run down. "He's trying to take over the Magical World, and probably the non-magical one as well, and promotes the belief that unless you can trace all your magical lineage back through several generations you should be killed or enslaved to serve those who can."

"Promotes?" Beth caught the qualifier.

"He's really just a psychotic and sadistic murder who spouts that nonsense as the group that believe those things tend to be the magical families who have gathered wealth and influence over the centuries." Harry clarified.

"And all of you are opposing him?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Beth queried. "The people you called for help from must be some form of Law Enforcement, why can you leave it to them?"

"Why didn't Bilbo Baggins stay home?" Hermione surprised everyone by answering. "Why didn't Frodo give up the Ring of Power? I've been pondering this since my Grandparents asked me the same thing."

"I think I see." Bill said. "It's the same reason why Tanis and his friends were the key to the war they fought."

"Tanis?" Hermione queried.

"The main Dragon Lance story." Bill explained.

"I've not read that one." Hermione admitted. "I figured you would all be at least familiar with Tolkien though. The logical argument is that we should be able to leave it to them. The reality is that could anyone else have achieve what the hero's of those stories did?"

"Probably not." Bill admitted. "They and the groups they were with had 'special' qualities that made them perfectly suited to the task, not that they could have done it alone. Frodo only made it due to Sam and even them he fell into darkness at the end."

"And it's possible we have our own Gollum in the form of a former friend of Harry's parents who betray them and is the reason they were murdered." Hermione said sadly. "But this doesn't parallel any other story and I want to keep it that way. They all lost friends along the way and that's the last thing we want."

"So Harry is the grand hero and you are all his group of mismatched adventurers who will help him achieve victory them." Bill looked them all over. "If I hadn't seen you all in action I wouldn't believe it."

"Are you saying girls can't fight?" Charlie challenged her boyfriend.

"I know better than to say that, Kate would kick my arse just to make her point." Bill grumbled. "I just thought that they look better suited to a catwalk than a fire-fight."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Daphne demanded. "What do cat's walking have to do with fighting fires?"

"I see what you mean by little interaction between the two worlds." Mike chuckled. "A catwalk or runway is what models use in a fashion show. A fire-fight is another term for live combat."

"A fashion show is a big event in the fashion industry. Models used to show off the latest designs are considered to be the most beautiful girls, and handsome men, in the World." Hermione continued the explanation. "So he basically said we are all very beautiful."

"Well, that's nice, but if he thinks I can't hold my own in a fight he's mistaken." Daphne replied.

"What do we do now?" Ginny asked.

"I make sure I know what I'm doing here so I can Seal their memories for everyone's safety.." Harry answered.

"There's a town not too far from here were we can get a snack." Beth pointed off into the distance over her shoulder with her thumb.

"Okay, just don't try and run off." Tonks said. "Let's go."

It was a quiet trip, mostly so that Harry could study in peace. Hermione sat next to him and helped him as best she could. Charlie had swapped with Tonks so she could navigate for Emily and was impressed by the enchanted vehicle.

The town was a small quaint town but the dairy supplied some nice snacks and the two vehicles parked in a field on the outskirts of the town and everyone disembarked to sit in the field and enjoy the sun while Harry still fought with the Ward he was studying.

"I don't know how you can be so calm about this." Beth said to Kate.

"Believe me, the first time was worse. There was a larger group that were after my Sensei's cousin because they were trying to find and kill little kids who had no protection from or knowledge of magic."

"Oh my god. Did they succeed?"

"No, Harry and Tonks took them out. Harry actually killed a couple of them, including one who I think was Tonks' aunt?"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah." Tonks had overheard them. "Aunt Bellatrix was a total nut job. The world is better off without her. I would've killed her myself if I could. My mother's family supported the Dark Tosser. Mum didn't which is why she got kicked out. Cousin Sirius, Harry's late Godfather, was also like me and Mum. He hated the Blood-Purity garbage his mother loved and ran away from home to live with his best friend, Harry's Dad."

"I thought you and Harry were cousins?" Kate queried.

"Distantly. Something like my cousin's aunt was Harry's grandmother." Tonks. "I had an actual cousin who also followed the Dark Tosser, and arrested for attempted murder only a few weeks ago. Harry is who he attempted to murder."

Both Kate and Beth looked appalled.

"Poor kid, he was a classmate of most of them. Too young really but the Law is the Law and the spell he used is call an Unforgivable for a reason."

"Just how messed up is your world?" Beth demanded.

"Right now, beyond belief. Normally it's just pretty messed up." Tonks shrugged. "I really think those kids right there are going to straighten out most of those messes and I want to be there to see it."

"Having seen them together for a while I know it's going to be a wild ride." Kate smiled softly as she studied Harry.

Harry had shifted back to his female form at some point and was still in his wetsuit, having been too focused on his work to change while the other girls were in light shirts and skirts with their swimsuits slightly visible underneath.

Harry had shifted from studying to waving his wand in precise motions and seemed pleased with what he was achieving, though there were no visible results.

"I think I've got it." Harry announced finally.

"You think?" Mike protested. "You're going to messing around with our heads and you only think you've got it."

"It's good enough for me." Kate countered, shooting a glare at her friend. "If you're ready, Harry, I'll go first."

Harry looked surprised but nodded as he realised what she was doing. "Okay, just relax."

Kate took a few deep breaths as she forced her body and mind to relax. "I'm ready."

Harry carefully wove the ward and placed it in her mind.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked once he had finished.

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?" Kate seemed confused.

"What happened today?"

"I taught you guys how to surf. You all did really well for your first time."

"Nothing else happened?" Beth asked.

"No, why do you ask?" Kate looked totally confused.

"Come with me a sec." Harry motioned for her to follow him.

"Sure." Kate shrugged and followed Harry behind the car's where they were both out of sight and earshot.

"So, what did happen today?" Harry asked again.

"We were attacked by a Dragon and then Death Eaters..." Kate frowned. "I couldn't remember any of that before; I mean I knew it, but I didn't. That was really weird."

"At least I know it works properly and there were no side effects." Harry smiled. "Come on, let's go back."

Kate nodded.

"It works just fine." Harry grinned happily.

"What works fine?" Kate asked.

"You have permission to discuss the 'memories' with the people here and your sister Ann." Harry stated, looking Kate in the eye.

"Wow, that's just so weird." Kate shook her head. "And that's after being face to face with a Dragon."

"So you did remember?" Catherine asked.

"I never really forgot but it's really weird. It's not bad but it's a little disconcerting." Kate tried to explain. "You'll understand what I mean."

"Okay." Beth nodded. "I'll go next."

"You sure, I can if you want." Johnny looked at her carefully.

"I'll be fine." Beth smiled at her boyfriend reassuringly, gently cupping his cheek with her hand.

"Okay, but I'm right after her." Johnny looked Harry in the eye.

Harry nodded and repeated the process twice more.

"So, how do you feel?" Kate asked them.

"Fine." Beth and Johnny answered looking at each other.

"Good, what do you know about dragons?" Kate grinned.

"Big mythical creatures." Johnny said.

"They breath fire too." Beth added.

"Uhuh, and your views on magic?" Kate kept grinning.

"Magic isn't real." Johnny looked a little confused.

Kate went to ask the next question but Harry cut her off. "Come on, that's not nice."

Kate pouted while Harry gave 'permission' to the newly ensorcelled pair.

As soon as he had finished Beth growled and jumped on Kate, dragging her to the ground, tickling her everywhere she could.

Harry move in stop the tussle but Johnny stopped him. "Don't they're just playing and Kate deserves this for messing with us. It's really mind twisting to both know and not know at the same time."

"What's happening?" Catherine watched the laughing girls.

"Harry got the spell down and Beth is punishing Kate for tormenting us." Johnny answered.

"No side-effects? No memory loss, twitching, pain, anal leakage?" Bill entered the conversation.

Harry looked sick. "Where did that last one come from?"

"Surgical side effect." Bill explained.

"Just be glad he didn't include dumping syndrome." Charlie added.

"Some one Obliviate me please." Harry turned away.

"Those two are just sick." Mike glared at the chuckling pair of medical students. "They love to torment us with stuff like that. Since it seems to be fine, let's get it over with."

Harry nodded and used Occlumency to regain his focus and placed the Ward four more times. After a quick test he gave the last four 'permission' and sat down to relax.

"Can I ask one last thing?" Catherine seemed a little hesitant. "How do you all protect what you know?"

"Some of it we don't need to worry about and for the sensitive stuff we are studying Occlumency which allows us to defend our minds by magical means." Hermione answered.

"So it's not just us who have to be careful." Catherine looked a little happier.

"Will you do this with Sensei and Ann?" Kate asked Harry.

"I don't know if I can." Harry replied. "Sensei seems to be dealing with the Goblins closely and Ann might have to talk to MI5 and MI6. Plus they have permission from Amelia. You friends here aren't actually helping so they don't fall under the 'need to know' concept."

"Your helping?" Beth looked over at Kate.

"I'm Harry's training partner." Kate answered. "One of them anyway."

Daphne was studying their six new friends carefully and then quietly asked Tonks to pull Harry aside and then leant closer to Hermione and Ginny. "Do you think we should invite them to Harry's party? They seem really nice and we get along well."

"Not a bad idea." Hermione looked around to see if Harry was out of earshot and flashed a smile at Daphne for her quick thinking.

"Umm, this is a little odd but we're having a birthday Party for Harry soon, are you interested in coming?"

They six discussed it briefly and happily accepted the invitation and learnt about owl post.

"Oh." Kate lit up suddenly. "Snow boards, bring them. The party is at Hermione's right?"

Hermione stared at Kate and then smiled broadly. "That's a brilliant idea. I prefer skiing myself but yeah, we can magic up the equipment temporarily and buy it when we know what we want. That would be really fun."

"Okay, I'll bite." Mike looked at the happy brunette. "We can go boarding at your place? Are you getting a snow maker or can you magic up some snow?"

Hermione's smile managed to grow somehow. "Better! You'll see."


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

Yes it's been a long time since my last post. I had hoped to use the Christmas Break to get a chapter or two ready as present for everyone who has been following my story.

Unfortunately my holiday turned out to be not much of a holiday, in fact I feel like I need a holiday from my holiday.

Anyway, here is the latest instalment. I hope it meets your expectations.

Thanks to everyone who has kept up with this story.

**Chapter 25**

Kate's plan to relax Harry was a success, surprisingly enough. The dragon and the Death Eaters didn't manage to ruin his fun. If anything it helped. His successes in defeating both the dragon and being instrumental in defeating the Death Eaters with several innocents at risk and nobody getting hurt really put him in a much better mood.

His improved mood really helped the girls too. They all felt happier and more motivated and it showed in their work. Hermione, Ginny and Daphne were all getting close to completing their animagus forms and were having a friendly race. They even roped Padma into it as the fourth feline animagus. Padma resisted a little at first but soon got into the spirit of the game and quickly caught up with the other three.

They were closing in on the finish line. Hannah and Tracy, the two having the most trouble with their forms all but abandoned their animagus training to watch over the four. Harry promised to work with them to as a reward. Having managed to attain so many forms he was the most experienced at the transformation and had very good advice to offer all of them.

This day, towards the end of July, they felt sure that they would achieve to total transformation and had asked Harry to give them some privacy. With the size of their forms Ginny, Daphne and Padma had to be naked. Hermione didn't but given Padma's discomfort at public nudity, even on front of other girls, she bared all. Padma tried to make use of a blanket but soon found it too much of a distraction and left it on her chair.

Padma, for all her discomfort, actually welcomed it. She was the most modest of the girls and felt a little left out as the others reduced the sizes of their bikini's. It was not fault of the others. They never made her feel anything less than welcome however she dressed but it didn't stop her thoughts from eating at her a little. Now she completely kicked them aside as she focused on making a complete transformation.

It worked too. She won. Hermione came second a minute later and Ginny followed by only seconds. Daphne, upset at her loss, grumbled for five minutes in protest before Tracy shoved her off her chair and ordered her to change. Daphne succeeded and Tracy found herself at the mercy of the black panther's weight and tongue as Daphne pinned her friend to the ground and licked her face all over.

Tracy, checking them over, congratulated them and let them make the transformation a couple more times so that they knew they had it down before banning them from magic until after dinner. Harry was called back from where he was practising his martial arts and sword form to rejoin them where he was questioned on duration and how to include their clothing during the change.

Susan and Luna had paired up and worked together steadily, making good progress. They thought they would have their forms completed not much after Harry's birthday. Hannah and Tracy shouldn't be much behind them if Harry's help was anything to go by. They made it a point of listening in for pointers to help them.

The four feline animagus where a little hyper all day at their success. Even Luna's news didn't distract them much. She had been exchanging letters with Neville for a while and enjoying the responses. Hedwig was more than happy to carry them; Harry having few letters to send with seeing his friends every day. He and the others had had Luna include the odd message from them to Neville and Neville had happily replied.

Neville had impressed his Grandmother so much when he was at the Ministry that she had bought him a wand the day after he got home and bullied his Uncle Croaker, an Unspeakable, into teaching him to fight. Neville found himself being pushed hard but enjoying himself. The confidence he had gain from the DA and his new wand allowed him to progress quickly.

The news was that he was getting the day off for his birthday and wanted to know if Harry, Luna and the others would like to visit. They were more than happy to and made a quick trip to Diagon Alley to buy presents for him. The girls traded Harry between them and used the time to finish up buying presents for Harry too.

The next day was embarrassing on many levels for Hermione. She and the other three feline animagus were working on their form duration and Harry's advice was helping immensely. They soon felt comfortable taking a stroll around the yard to get used to moving in their forms. So Emily was treated to the sudden sight of a lioness, an equally large Bengal tiger and a black panther bounding around her backyard.

It didn't take her long to figure out that it was the girls doing some form of magic and went out to look. A small cat ran up to her and meowed for attention and bounced inside to sit of the sofa arm and tap a book lying there. A book Hermione had left.

"Hermione?" Emily asked staring at the cat.

"Meow." The cat, Hermione, nodded and carefully returned to the floor and bounded up to be petted, to which Emily happily provided.

"Is that Hermione?" Harry made an appearance after having looked over and complemented the three great cats and been point in the direction of the fourth cat.

"I think so." Emily smiled. "She makes a cute kitty."

Harry joined in the petting. "Such lovely soft fur but a little bushy. Looks like Hermione didn't quite manage to escape that."

"Meow." Hermione sounded disgruntled.

Crookshanks had been wandering around from time to time. He would show up and find a girl who was willing to pet him and vanish to sleep in the sun. He had been kept out of the World Room due to the possibility of losing him and he stayed out of the Entrance Hall to avoid the massive skeletal snake. He had ducked into the house once he had seen and smelt the three predators and vanished under the couch.

The sight of the female cat drew his attention however. Hermione had rolled over onto her back to allow Harry to rub her stomach. Hermione was really enjoying the feeling of Harry's hand making it's long strokes from the base of her neck right the way down the full length of her stomach before her disappointment as his hand left her body to return to its starting point.

Hermione would never admit it but as Harry's hand slid between her hind legs he was stimulating her, leaving her tingling in her most intimate places. Her purring increased until she sounded like an engine.

Crookshanks could smell the female cat's arousal and approached to sniff at her.

Hermione rolled away and back to her feet annoyed at the loss of contact with Harry. Crookshanks moved behind Hermione and began lifting himself onto her. He didn't get very far. As soon as Hermione, who had never let her pet out of her sight, realised what he was trying to do her claws shot out by shear reflex and she racked them across her the nose of her orange furred pet.

Crookshanks howled in pain and shot away, vanishing back under the couch. Hermione unconsciously reverted back to her human form and began to berate her pet. Harry twitched as he felt a pull on his magic and was shocked by the result.

Hermione began radiating magic at an impressive rate. The couch the terrified feline was hiding under was thrown clear across the room. Crookshanks tried to run again but was hoisted up and held in mid and force to face his mistress.

"You blasted feline!" Hermione yelled. "How dare you try that! If you EVER try that again I'll neuter with the bluntest instrument I can find!"

Harry and Emily watched Hermione, naked as the day she was born, unleash her rage on the scared cat. Harry was mesmerised by her beauty. He knew he should look away and respect her privacy but the life that her anger had brought to her face and the energy she was radiating had his attention locked on her.

Hermione finished yelling at her cat and released him letting him fall to the floor to vanish, hunting for somewhere else to hide.

Hermione spun on her heel and marched out of the room. "Harry! Come!"

Harry shifted into Padfoot and followed the still nude witch. Harry noted that the three great cats had been drawn by the noise and magic and had heard most of Hermione's tirade. They dashed ahead of the odd pair.

By the time Hermione and Harry had arrived in the clearing Ginny, Daphne and Padma had transformed back and dressed to await what would happen next.

Susan, Hannah, Luna and Tracy were all curious about what had happened. They were too far away to feel much of the surge of power Hermione emitted and her voice had been muffled so they were shocked to see a naked Hermione storm into the courtyard, completely ignoring the gravel against her bare feet, with Harry in his black dog Animagus form following obediently.

With a gesture Hermione directed Harry to sit back in his chair, which he did, returning to his female form as he went. Hermione then, after some shaking, stamping and turning back and forth, unleashed a massive tirade.

Poor Harry bore the brunt of Hermione's volcanic anger. The only thing keeping him from cowering in a ball was the fact that she was venting to him not on him. The girls watched as Harry tried to be supportive and comforting in the few moment Hermione allowed him to get a word in and fight against himself to try and not stare at the completely naked body of his closest friend.

A fight he was failing miserably at; not that the other girls could blame him. They too could barely tear their eyes away from the angry witch enough to see his predicament. Hermione was so expressive, full of life they would swear she was glowing. He stamping feet, turning body and gesturing arms all sent waves of motion through her body causing he breasts to bounce wildly.

"Merlin." Ginny said quietly. "She's amazing. Mum's yelling's got nothing on her."

Harry was getting concerned about the duration of Hermione rage and tried to focus on a cause. He was more than a little distracted by the incredible sight in front of him but the back of his mind kept prodding him with the memory of the pull on his magic when Hermione's anger was initially unleashed.

Harry managed to focus enough to notice the pull was still there and managed to block it. The effect was instantaneous. Hermione stopped mid sentence, her waving hair falling limp and her skin growing dull, and collapsed like a puppet with its string cut. Harry only just managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

"What happened?" Ginny demanded as they all leapt forward to help.

Tracy was scanning Hermione carefully. "Her core is drained but she's okay, just very tired."

"Hang on." Harry handed the naked witch over to Ginny and Tracy, who covered her and sat her down, and concentrated recreating the pull again.

Hermione's colour improved suddenly and she began to rouse.

Tracy ran another scan. "Her magic level's have increased. Did you do that Harry?"

Harry nodded but Hermione's groan stopped his answer.

"What happened?" Hermione clutched her head.

"Are you feeling alright?" Tracy asked.

"I think so. My head's a bit sore but it seems to be fading."

"What do you remember?"

"Crookshanks tried too..." Hermione blushed.

"Tried too?"

"Mount me." Hermione admitted quietly.

"Oh. You didn't let him did you?"

"Hell no." Hermione snapped. "I spun and clawed his nose as soon as I saw what he was trying to do. Then I yelled at him to make sure he didn't do it again..." Hermione's voice trailed off.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked quietly.

"I used wandless magic." Hermione said, her voice containing both shock and surprise. "I sent the couch Crookshanks was hiding under flying and levitated him when he tried to run again. How did I do that?"

"I think Harry knows." Daphne turned everyone's attention to the gender altered wizard.

"Umm, I felt a pull on my magic right when Hermione changed back to yell at Crookshanks. I think she was using my magic to strengthen hers." Harry explained. "The pull didn't end until I blocked it once we got back here and Hermione didn't seem to be calming down. I was worried it might be fuelling her anger. When I blocked it she just passed out and Tracy said her magic was at a low level so I tried to push a little of my magic to her and she woke up."

"So the transfer of magic does go both ways." Daphne pondered the situation. "That's actually really good to know. It means that Harry can support us if we get in trouble."

Hermione pulled at the blanket tighter. "I'm really sorry, Harry. I may have been angry at Crookshanks but I yelled at you too."

"It's okay." Harry tried to reassure her. "I didn't feel like you were actually yelling 'at' me, just to me. Um. I'm really sorry too."

"For what?" Hermione was confused. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"I looked. I'm really sorry but I couldn't help it." Harry looked away, ashamed at himself.

Hermione was still confused until Ginny motioned under her blanket and Hermione, checking, realised she had been completely naked the entire time. Her face flushed completely red and she visibly retreated. "Oh, right, umm, I think I need a shower."

Hermione pulled her sandals on haphazardly and raced out of the courtyard.

"It's not your fault, Harry." Daphne tried to reassure him. "We couldn't help but stare too. I don't think there would've been anyway you could have resisted that sight. She looked amazing."

"It was still wrong though." Harry replied. "I know better. I should have been stronger. I've ruined our entire friendship."

"It's not going to be that bad Harry." Ginny told him. "Believe me. Your friendship is much stronger than that. It might be a little strange for a day or two while she adjusts but your friendship isn't over."

"I really hope so." Harry said miserably. "Don't get me wrong, you're all great friends and I'm glad to know you all and we are getting really close but..."

"Hermione is already close." Daphne cut him off. "You've already built the bonds with her that you're still developing with us. It's okay, we know."

"We're just glad you're letting us build those bonds with you too." Hannah finished.

"I'll go talk to Hermione." Ginny stood. "And I'll send Dobby and Winky to check on the lounge, if Mrs Granger hasn't already called them."

Harry nodded distractedly. Though the girl's words were reassuring, they couldn't stop the despair and worry of losing Hermione from growing within him. He pulled his knees to his chest, turning away from the others and sat their struggling to fight back his tears.

"It'll be okay, I promise." Ginny whispered in his ear as she left.

!HPEaSE!

Hermione came out of her bathroom after her very long shower and found Ginny sitting on her bed waiting for her.

"How are you feeling?" Ginny asked, concern very obvious in both her voice and her expression.

"I'm okay." Hermione sat next to Ginny, adjusting her towel slightly for comfort. "Crookshanks was just being a cat and I doubt he'll try that again."

"I think you scared eight of his nine lives out of him." Ginny grinned.

Hermione managed a small smile too. "I hope so, bloody animal. But it did raise something I'll have to be aware of when using that form. Other cats may try the same thing so I'll have to be aware or I might end up getting raped by a horny cat."

"That's not a pleasant thought." Ginny looked a little sick.

"Yeah." Hermione mirrored her younger friends expression.

"You did a real number on the lounge though. You got the couch halfway through the wall." Ginny grinned. "Dobby and Winky fixed everything right up though so you don't need to worry."

"Good. So everything is sorted then?" Hermione asked.

"No. There is one thing you still have to take care of." Ginny turned serious.

"What?" Hermione was getting worried.

"You have to talk to Harry."

"Oh Merlin. He must hate me." Hermione buried her face in her hands. "I unloaded on him so badly."

"Oh don't worry about that, he's used to it after all your fights with Ron." Ginny waved that concern away. "No, it's because he saw you naked."

"Oh no." Hermione fell back on the bed. "How am I going to face him. He must be mortified."

Ginny tried to stifle her laughter but couldn't totally manage it.

"What's that for?" Hermione glared at the redhead.

"You've got it totally wrong. He thinks he hates you for seeing you naked. He's positive you'll never speak to him again for violating your privacy." Ginny explained.

"Huh?" Hermione was confused. "I'm not too happy with myself for parading around in the buff but it's not Harry's fault."

"He thinks he should've looked away." Ginny paused. "For the record, when you were standing their ranting, radiating magic, none of us you look away. You put one of my Mum's rants to shame; and hers are legendary."

"Was it really that impressive?"

"Mum's never tossed the furniture around wandlessly so you've gotten her beat there. You looked so alive, Mum just looks angry."

Hermione blushed a little. "Thanks. I'll talk to Harry in our lounge. When we go down could you send him there please?"

"Sure." Ginny nodded. "'Course he's so terrified of you at this point that I might have to tie him up and float him there."

Hermione had to stifle a giggle. "If you have to I'm sure that Daphne will help you."

Ginny grinned back.

Hermione pulled a fresh bikini out a draw and a light sundress from her wardrobe. Dropping her towel she tied the bikini strings round herself and pulled her sundress on and buttoned it up.

"Come on." Hermione took a deep breath and released it. "Time to face Harry. Why do I feel like I'm about to face a dragon?"

"Give him time and you could be." Ginny followed her friend out of their bedroom.

"Not helping Ginny." Hermione glared.

!HPEaSE!

Hermione sat in a chair waiting for Harry. She had locked the lounge door to the rest of the house and had her wand ready to lock the other door once Harry came in. She doubted it would actually hold him if he seriously wanted to leave but hopefully the symbolism wouldn't be lost.

With a mild Notice Me Not charm to give her time to surprise Harry she relaxed, or at least tried to. Waiting for what might be the most uncomfortable conversation ever was not a relaxing situation.

Harry slipped into the room looking morose and shut the door behind him. He froze as Hermione spell sped past him and locked it behind him. He spun, looking for the threat and saw Hermione sitting in her chair calmly.

She flicked her want toward the chair opposite her. "Sit."

Harry gulped and obeyed quietly. "Hermione..."'

"Don't talk." Hermione cut him off. "Just sit."

Harry sat.

Hermione studied him carefully. He looked almost broken.

"I'm not angry at you." Hermione said eventually. "I'm embarrassed and a little humiliated but I'm not angry at you."

"Really?" Harry sounded hopeful. "I couldn't bear to lose you."

"You haven't."

"I'm really sorry I was staring at you." Harry blurted suddenly. "I knew I shouldn't, I knew it was wrong, but... I couldn't look away. The way you looked, it was mesmerising."

Hermione blushed a little. "Thank you. I'm glad you liked what you saw."

Harry flushed. "Yeah, I did."

"All of me?"

Harry flushed more and ducked his head but nodded.

"I'm not angry that you found me attractive." Hermione reassured him. "I like it. I've always felt like the ugly duckling compared to the others."

"I've never compared you to the others, Hermione. I promise." Harry looked up to try and convince her. "Yes they are all beautiful, but so are you. I wish I'd had seen it sooner and I'm sorry for that but you are beautiful. Don't ever doubt that."

"Thanks, Harry. I really appreciate it." Hermione smiled. "I was worried you might be... disappointed."

"No, never." Harry replied without thinking then ducked his head in embarrassment as his mind caught up with his own words.

"I'm not as slender as Ginny, Padma or Tracy, I'm not as busty and Daphne or Susan. Ginny is likely to be bigger breasted than everyone but those two; she might even catch them up if her mother is anything to go by."

"So you all look different, it doesn't mean I think less of you. I thought it would be wrong to compare any of you with the others or rely solely on physical looks. I made that mistake with Cho and you deserve better. Not that she looks better than you." Harry finished in a hurry.

Hermione had to hide a grin at Harry's backpedalling.

Hermione felt better. She had such doubts about her body. She knew she didn't surrender anything to the other girls in intelligence but she'd never felt as pretty. Harry's clumsy words had touched her. He might never reach the level of eloquence that she found in the more fanciful books she sneakily read but his honesty was worth far more.

"Tell me what you saw." Hermione felt much better about herself, now she had to help Harry with his own feelings.

"Huh?"

"You saw me, what parts of me?"

"Well, everything." Harry's head ducked again.

"I doubt that. Details Harry."

"Well, your b..breasts." Harry stuttered slightly.

"What did you think of them?"

"They were nice. Shapely. I liked how they bounced when you moved." Harry was really blushing now.

"What about my nipples?"

"Really pink. I never though much of pink as a colour but they were a nice pink."

"Thank you. What else?"

"Umm, you've a really nice stomach and you back is really nice too. I never thought someone could have such a nice back."

"But you've seen it already. Bikini's don't cover much from behind."

"I know but it was different without the strings and knots. I don't know how."

"Okay. What else?"

"Your butt's really cute too."

"Anything else?"

"You've wonderful legs."

"I think you're missing something..." Hermione probed lightly, teasingly.

Harry screwed his eyes shut. "I like the way you curve between your legs."

"There's a little more there for you to see." Hermione told him. "Something very personal."

"I'm sorry."

"For what? Thinking that you liked what you saw. I don't want you to apologise for that. Do you want to see me naked?"

Harry froze at the question. "What do you mean?"

"Do you want to see me naked? At some point. We are technically married and that sort of is normal between spouses."

Harry ducked his head further and nodded.

"Do you want to kiss my body, my breasts, my nipples?"

Harry nodded again.

Hermione studied the cowering gender altered wizard, her boyfriend, her sort-of husband and made a decision.

Harry sat staring at his legs waiting for the words from Hermione that would end everything they had together.

"You are allowed to want such things with me. It doesn't offend me. I like the idea of you wanting me." Hermione finally spoke. "I want you to know that I was going to show you my body soon anyway."

Harry's head shot up to look at Hermione and froze. Sometime during the silence, Hermione had unbuttoned her sundress and undone the bikini ties and was now sitting there, bare for him to see. He immediately looked away, not wanting to repeat his mistake.

"Look at me Harry." Hermione commanded gently. "I want you to look at me."

She waited until Harry's head had lifted and he was facing her again his face totally red.

Strangely Hermione felt more comfortable thanks to Harry's extreme nervousness, like he was feeling hers for her.

"Do you like what you see?"

Harry gaped, his mouth dropping open.

"Is that a yes?" Hermione felt relaxed, powerful even at how Harry was reacting to her naked body.

She couldn't help but up the ante a spread her legs to allow him see her womanhood between them. She could hear him swallow violently and his breathing harshened.

"I told you I would let you see me when I was ready. Didn't you believe me?" Hermione shifted to expose herself a little more, enjoying her power over him. "You are allowed to want to see me naked. You're even supposed to. And now, you can even ask."

Harry couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing. "I must be dreaming."

Hermione laughed, a pure honest sound that made Harry jump and broke the spell she had placed him under. "You're not dreaming Harry. In fact, I think you will be seeing a lot more of this. I just hope you don't get bored with me."

"I don't think that's possible." Harry countered quickly.

"Are you seeing things you missed before?"

Harry nodded. "Umm, yeah. Your skin is nicely tanned. You've got noticeable tan lines on your breasts and..." Harry's eyes dropped between her legs.

Hermione smiled. "Good. Can I see you naked too?"

Harry nodded and quickly shed his clothes. "It's not anything you haven't seen before."

"It's still nice." Hermione looked his female form over. "But I was hoping to see your male body."

"Oh. Okay." Harry was glad he couldn't flush any further as he closed his eye to focus on the change.

"Why isn't my Occlumency working." He protested out loud.

"Probably because that's to protect your mind from external attacks, not your own emotions and desires." Hermione answered him. "You're still not really used to these feelings so it's going to be harder for you."

Hermione watched the shift with interest. Like the Animagus transformation it was smooth and fluid but this change had its own unique characteristics. As the most of the changes were subtle it was easy to miss them unless you were watching for them. Other, like his breasts and genitals, were more obvious and more interesting for it. Especially his genitals as the smooth skin formed his penis and scrotum.

His penis started soft but was slowly hardening as Hermione watched. "You look great, Harry. Thank you for letting me see you."

"Yeah." Harry seemed annoyed by his hardening member, almost as if he thought it was betraying him.

"Harry?" Hermione called for his attention. Once she got it she wiggled, causing her breasts to bounce slightly and sway gently for a moment.

That had Harry's member standing fully at attention and Harry's hands covering it rapidly.

"It's okay, you don't have to hide it. I like that I do that to you. You're just so big. I'm wondering how I'm going to fit you in me." Hermione told him.

Harry forced his hands to retreat and saw Hermione staring at his crotch appreciatively.

"Yes. I like what I see." Hermione lifted her eyes to meet his briefly before they dropped to his chest.

"Umm. You have a small problem." Hermione pointed at his chest.

"What?" Harry looked down but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"We have matching tan lines." Hermione explained.

Harry was confused until he noticed the triangular white patches on his chest that could only come from a bra or bikini top. "Oh crap. Umm. That's not right."

"No." Hermione agreed. "But I can only think of one solution and you're not going to like it."

"What?"

"Going topless."

Harry paled."But there no way I can hold this form that long. And wouldn't it make the others a bit nervous?"

"Probably, but I meant as a girl too."

"Is that allowed?"

"Of course, girls just need more privacy, or a place where practically every girl is topless. There are beaches like that in Europe." Hermione told him.

"What will the other think?"

"They'll understand."

"I'm not sure I can." Harry shifted back involuntarily as he lost all focus.

"I'll do it with you if you want." Hermione finally got out of her chair and closed the gap and laid her hand on his arm reassuringly. "I want to get rid of my tan lines too. I guess I'll just be starting a little earlier than I expect to."

"I can't believe this is happening." Harry seemed to be acting a little wild.

"What Harry?" Hermione was getting concerned.

"You, Ginny, the others. What's going on? How can you be okay with everything?" Harry stared at her with wide eyes. "Will you be okay when one of the others strip for me? Me and all of you, that can't be right."

Hermione half considered slapping him to get him focusing properly but that would probably wouldn't work for Harry. Instead she hauled him to his feet and into her embrace.

"It's okay Harry. The relationship we all have with you may not be normal but it's not 'wrong'." Hermione tried to reassure him. "I will probably be worried that you might like staring at Daphne or Susan's breasts more than mine so you'll just have to stare at us all equally."

Harry was shocked into silence by the feeling of her bare skin against him but managed to catch Hermione's words. "Did you just hear what you said?"

"Yeah I know." Hermione pulled back and gave him a rueful look. "Two months ago I would hex my boyfriend every which way from Sunday if I knew he was snogging other girls or seeing them naked."

"So how can you, and the others, put up with me doing just that?" Harry demanded.

"I can't answer for them but for me, two months ago I would never have dated you." Hermione told him simply. "I've been through too much to let you go now that I have you. Besides, my hypothetical boyfriend would've been cheating on me. None of us can claim you're cheating on us when we have each other's permission."

"But still..."

"Let it go Harry." Hermione smiled at him. "This may not be the easiest situation and I would've preferred to have you to myself, or even just me and Ginny if I had to share, but I really l.. like you. I grown so much this summer and so have you. I like who we've become. All of us have grown so much thanks to each other and I wouldn't change that. I think that growth has only occurred thanks to the Bond we created..."

Hermione trailed off, looking away, deep in thought.

"Hermione?" Harry asked softly.

"Don't you think it's odd that Luna always keeps coming up with odd this to say that, when you finally understand them are incredibly insightful?"

"Luna is just a little different, she sees things differently." Harry shrugged. "I like it, it makes sure we see things from all angles."

Hermione nodded and thought some more and suddenly grabbed Harry's hand. "Come on, I think we need to have a little chat with her."

"Hey wait." Harry resisted her pulling him. "Can we get dressed first?"

Hermione actually seemed to stop and think about it. "I suppose. Are you going topless or naked?"

"Do I have to start that now?"

"I was going to but I'm just as nervous about it as you are. I could use your support." Hermione looked at him hopefully.

Harry looked incredibly indecisive.

"Do you trust them or not?" Hermione prompted.

Harry stopped and nodded , taking a deep breath. "I do. Is topless okay?"

"Sure, I'll match you." Hermione returned to her clothing and tied on her bikini bottoms and pulled on her sundress but only did a single button at her waist to hold it closed.

Harry pulled his bikini bottom on and his singlet and shorts over the top. He followed that with a flick of his hand at his chest. "Face me a sec Hermione."

Hermione obeyed and Harry flicked his hand at her. She felt her breasts lift slightly as the support spell took effect. "You learnt to do that one wandlessly?"

"I figured it might be useful, but if we are going to spend a lot of time like this then I might enchant something to do the job."

"That would be nice. I think the others would appreciate their own too."

"I'll remember that." Harry took a deep breath. "Let's go."

Hermione unlocked both doors and took Harry's hand again. This time she wasn't dragging him though, she was happily walking with him. She noticed that he kept glancing over at her and a quick look down at her state of dress told her why. With her dress only fastened by a single button at her waist her chest, or rather her breasts, were exposed nearly to her nipples and Harry couldn't help but look.

She lifted her hand to pull one side of her dress aside to give Harry a clear view of one of her breasts and heard Harry's breathing hitch.

"You know, I like that I have such an effect on you." Hermione pulled Harry close and hugged his arm.

"I wish I had such an effect on you." Harry pouted.

"Well, I can live with you being a girl but it doesn't really turn me on. You do look amazing though. Your male form however... I was nearly drooling looking at you. I loved looking at you I want to do it again, soon if you don't mind."

"Umm..." Harry flushed further and growled in frustration. "You keep doing this to me on purpose don't you?"

"You caught me." Hermione confessed, releasing her dress and letting it fall back over her breast. "I'm sorry but you being so nervous makes it so much easier to do that. I do want you to get over that, but take your time."

Harry's glare at her intensified, though with little effect. "You, you, you... Minx."

"Minx, no. I'm just a cute little kitty cat." Hermione put on a cute, innocent expression and raised a hind like a paw. "Meow."

Harry laughed and relaxed. "Behave, or I won't give you rubs."

Hermione pouted. "Now that's just cruel. I want my rubs."

They were both laughing as they scrunched down the gravel path into the courtyard.

"Good." Ginny smiled. "I'm glad you two sorted things out."

"We did." Hermione smiled happily. "Thanks for your help."

It was the moment Hermione turned to reply to Ginny that they saw how open her dress was and they all froze in shock.

Hermione didn't notice as she her focus was back on Harry and the big step he was about to take. She may have been about to take the same step but it was a bigger deal for her friend with all his emotional baggage.

She undid the one button hold her dress closed and slipped it off, facing Harry the entire time in silent support.

Harry gulped but Hermione's actions worked as she had intended, giving him the support and confidence he needed to follow suit. He pulled off his shorts, then his singlet and sat down, picking up a book to continue working.

The other seven girls stared, open mouthed at the topless pair.

"Did you two forget something?" Susan prompted.

Hermione looked around in confusion. "Oh yes. Sunscreen, you don't want sunburn, Harry."

Harry looked away as he took the bottle, not wanting to see Hermione rub the cream into her breasts as he mimicked her actions.

"I was actually referring to something else." Susan commented dryly.

"Really?" Hermione thought for a moment. "Yes there was something else. Luna, why didn't you tell about the effect all of our relationships would have on Harry and each other?"

Luna froze, looking like a scared animal caught by the glare of headlights. They had never seen the petite blond react like that before. Ever.

Hermione relaxed back in her chair. "Harry's normally the one for intuitive leaps but I do have my moments. Would you care to explain why you have kept this form us?"

Luna was still mostly frozen, only her jaw moved as she tried to formula an answer.

Hermione just watched the blonde girl with a hint of amusement.

"Hermione, what exactly are you saying?" Daphne queried suspiciously.

"Luna?" Hermione passed the question over.

Luna burst into tears and buried her face into her hands. "I'm sorry. I just thought that if I told you all it would only get in the way of everything. Everything was going so nicely too."

"I'm not angry." Hermione tried to calm the crying girl. "I doubt any of us would be but it would've been nice of you to share your thoughts with us."

Luna nodded. "Okay. I really didn't think it would help. It's kind of mean to Harry too. It's not his fault, it's his upbringing."

"I know I'm pretty screwed up." Harry grumbled. "Let me have it."

Luna sighed and dashed away her tears, schooling her features into something calmer. "Harry is still very impressionable, still forming his identity. We all are to some extent but nowhere near as much as Harry. It's just as well we are with him to protect him from someone who might take advantage of him.

"Harry could pick any one of us and they would live a long, happy, fulfilling life together. Harry would complete his development in a fashion that would complement his partner. Because of his power and charisma, his partner would also be pushed to be her best too. Very beneficial all round."

"I never realised how badly off Harry was." Hannah looked close to tears. "I mean, he's so unsure of who he really is that he would alter himself to please his partner. Normally... What am I saying, forget normal."

Harry looked a little depressed too. "Luna's right about me. What sort of partner would I be for you girls, I don't even know who I am, not that it seems to matter."

"But it does matter." Luna protested loudly. "It matters a lot. This situation, however... different, is perfect for you and everyone. Their combined influence is exactly what you need. It stops you from being pulled in one direction and acts as an example to guide you rather that direct you. They will each help you grow in their own fashion and you will be someone far greater than any one of them could have achieved on their own."

"That's nice and all but it seems a little selfish." Harry looked concerned. "What about all of you?"

Luna smiled. "And that's why this is good for all of us too. Even me, your little sister. You heart is so large and open it can accept us all equally and give us all the love we desire from you. You help us grow too and will want and help us achieve our dreams and potential. But all of us combined, working together will teach and encourage and guide and push each other. Together we will help each other become MORE than we could ever have dreamed of being."

"Wow." Ginny smiled happily at the thought.

"That's not so bad. Why didn't you tell us?" Daphne asked.

"Because I didn't what to put any pressure on any of you. You might have stayed if you knew that by leaving we would all be lesser people." Luna looked down. "You all had to make your own choices without that pressure. Once those choices had been made then knowing this would've been a little pointless."

"Perhaps but I know I won't hold anything against anyone who doesn't want to stay bonded to Harry, and the rest of us by extension." Hermione looked around each of the girls. "With one condition; that you remain really good, close friends for life. I'm still to make my final decision on the matter but I've made some wonderful new friends, I refuse to lose any of them."

Harry nodded. "Wives, sisters or just friends; I feel like I have a family here. I don't want to lose any of you either."

"You've got me for life, one way or another." Ginny told him with a happy smile.

"I will stay bonded with you." Padma stated shyly. "I had decided that a while ago but everyday just keeps telling me I made the right choice and that I will be happy."

Daphne looked around. "I think we're going to stay together. So let's just have some fun to celebrate."

"Can I just ask one thing first?" Tracy interrupted.

"Sure." Daphne nodded for her friend to go ahead.

"Harry, Hermione, why are you topless?" Tracy asked curious.

Harry flushed in embarrassment and ducked his head.

Hermione rubbed his shoulders in sympathy. "We're getting rid of our tan lines. We discovered that Harry's remain when he shifts to his male form and they look a little out of place. I'm not too keen on the white patches either so I'm supporting him in this huge step for him."

Tracy peeked under her own top and noticed the other girls do the same. "Well, Harry, you have nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about. I just wish I was as brave to join you both."

"I think it's a good idea." Luna chirped, back to her normal self after being forgiven by her friends. "But don't the bottoms leave tan lines too? We should take everything off."

"One step at a time Luna." Hermione told her.

"Okay." Luna, without any hesitation, pulled her own top off and let her perky little breasts bounce free. "First step. Let me know when I can take the second please. This feels quite liberating."

Hermione palmed her face. "I should've seen that one coming. We are so lucky that Mum is the only other person in the house."

Harry was doing a good job of mimicking Luna's 'caught in the headlights' expression as he tried not to look at the younger girls suddenly bared breasts.

Luna smiled and got up to stand before him. "It's okay to look Harry, sisters don't need to hide things from each other."

"What about Neville?" Harry protested. "I don't think I would like another guy looking at my girlfriends bits."

"If Neville has a problem with my sister seeing my bits then he is not the Neville I know him to be." Luna stated firmly. "Now let's go have some fun. You've been far too serious lately."

Luna dragged Harry to his feet and out of the courtyard.

"You you really going out there like that?" Susan nodded towards Hermione's chest.

"Why not? The only males in the house are Harry and Dobby. Winky will keep Dobby away and Harry I want to look at me." Hermione replied. "The Wards will keep anyone outside the yard from seeing and no one else will be home until mid afternoon at the earliest. If Winky warns us when they get home we can move somewhere else to continue our fun. We still haven't tried the indoor pool yet."

Hermione stopped further conversation by grabbing hers and Harry's clothing and towels and followed the departed pair.

She caught up with them easily and over took them, tossing what she was carrying aside she jumped into the pool with a playful shout. Luna, not one to be left out, pulled Harry with her as they cheerfully copied Hermione's actions.

!HPEaSE!

Emily has been watching from the lounge the entire time, from when her daughter had stormed off naked with Harry in tow to her dash across the yard into the Extension a short time later. Ginny followed moments later and made sure the damage Hermione did was getting sorted before following her. It was a long while before Ginny returned but she seemed happy rather than concerned which kept Emily from worrying.

Harry's morose trek across the yard a minute later had her really worried though. She was relieved to see him walking hand in hand with Hermione when they finally emerged. She was, however, very surprised to see her daughters state of dress, or rather undress, and didn't miss Hermione hugging him close and happily baring a breast for him to look at. Neither of them seemed to be wearing bikini tops. That observation was confirmed a several minutes later when a topless Harry appeared with a topless Luna and an equally topless Hermione ran past them to jump in the pool.

The three were splashing in the pool as the remaining girls joined them an Emily noted that none of them had bared their own breasts. Perhaps she needed to have a little catch up with her daughter Emily thought. At least there was no one else home to see the two girls and the gender altered wizards new lack of modesty.

Emily looked at the time and, seeing it was approaching lunch time, headed for her kitchen calling for the two elves on the way.

"I wish to make lunch for my daughter and her friends, Winky could you help me please?" Emily had learnt how to deal with the elves without upsetting them. "Dobby, I'm sure you are aware of the current state of dress of some of the girls so perhaps, for their comfort, you could keep yourself busy in the World Room."

Dobby nodded and vanished while Winky waited to hear what they would be making.

!HPEaSE!

Emily laid the last of the food on a tray and saw Winky finish placing the glasses on another tray.

"Okay, you take that small tray to Dobby and enjoy your lunch with him." Emily smiled warmly at the house elf.

"But you can't carry them all by yourself." Winky protested.

"I will ask Hermione to help. I want to talk to her alone which is why your wonderful assistance will not be necessary." Emily explained.

Winky nodded reassured. "Thank you for your kindness, Mistress Emily." Picking up the tray, she vanished.

Emily picked up the first tray and carried it out. "Lunchtime you lot, so out of the pool."

Harry flushed as he hesitantly pulled himself out of the pool but Hermione and Luna had no such reservations as they got out.

"Hermione, there're more tray's in the kitchen, could you help me with them please?" Emily asked as she set the tray she was carrying down.

"Sure." Hermione headed inside with her mother following.

Once in the kitchen Emily looked her daughter in the eye. "So, this is a new development."

"A little earlier than I expected and not as romantic, but I'm happy with my choice."

"And Harry?"

"Did you know his tan lines remain between his male and female forms?" Hermione ginned. "He didn't have much choice really. A bikini tan line looks out of place on a man."

Emily shook her head. "Yes, I can believe that. Does this mean you've seen 'him' naked then?"

Hermione nodded, blushing slightly. "He looks really good."

"I hope you're not rushing. For both of your sakes. I know firsthand that rushing some things will only ruin them."

"Mum," Hermione turned totally serious, "I've known Harry for five years now and been through a lot with him. If I didn't have the others or the Bond to worry about neither of us would be returning to Hogwarts as virgins and that would not be rushing it."

"I thought the same thing." Emily replied just as serious. "I thought I was ready, I thought we were ready. I wasn't and I regretted it. It ruined our relationship as I couldn't bear to be touched afterwards. If it wasn't for your Father's incredible patience and gentleness, you wouldn't be here now."

"Oh." Hermione stared in shock.

"Your Father was patience and slow. He let me get comfortable and didn't get frustrated when I needed to back-step. He eventually awoke a real passion and desire within me and we still have plenty of fun to this day." Emily gave her daughter a gently smile. "That is what I want for you. So please don't rush. Take each step forward in intimacy slowly. You have plenty of time."

"I promise, but that is what I was planning on doing anyway."

"I knew I raised a daughter smarter than I am." Emily ruffled her daughters hair eliciting a swat and protest.

Emily handed a tray over. "Come on, let's not keep your friends and boyfriend waiting."

Hermione glared at the teasing as she took the tray.

Emily expression turned serious. "You know you can talk to me about anything right? Anything from problems to ideas to play around with Harry. I feel like I've been excluded from so much of your life because of magic. This summer has been so much better and I seen how much I've missed. You may be growing up and I know you have to go your own way but you are still my daughter and I love you. I don't want to lose you in anyway."

"Love you too, Mum." Hermione's eye's teared slightly. "I don't want to lose you either. But talking to you about what I do with Harry in private is a little odd."

"You didn't hear me when I was giving him the talk." Emily grinned as she picked up the last tray. "Harry's been embarrassed to look at me since."

"Just don't start going topless around him." Hermione glared. "He would run away thinking Dad's going to kill him for seeing his wife."

Emily pouted playfully. "Your Dad has no right to complain after our honeymoon in France."

Hermione turned bright red. "I really didn't need to know that. I don't think I'm that much of an exhibitionist and I know the other aren't."

"But you're happy to wander around home topless."

"Only because everyone else is out." Hermione protested. "Can you stop teasing me."

"Alright." Emily smiled. "Let's go."

They left the kitchen only to find a blushing Padma and Tracy.

"Oh. Ah. Hi, we came to see if we could help?" Tracy managed to say.

"Thank you for being so thoughtful but we are managing." Emily smiled and continued heading out.

"How much did you overhear?" Hermione asked, a little worried.

"Most of it." Padma answered quietly.

"Including your little declaration about Harry." Tracy added.

"I'm sorry." Hermione slumped.

"You have to come clean about that to everyone." Tracy stated as she turned to leave.

Hermione nodded and slumped as she finished her journey outside.

She set the tray down only slightly cheered by noticing Harry struggling with staring at her bare breasts and not staring at the same time. "Mum, we need some more salad dressing, could you please...?"

Emily looked at her daughter in confusion for a moment before recognising the true request and nodded as she left. "Sure, be right back."

Once her mother was inside Hermione took a deep breath and forced herself to speak. "I owe all of you an apology. I mentioned to my mother that if it were just me and Harry, I would have had sex with by the time we returned to Hogwarts. That was insensitive of me to all of you for many reasons."

Her words were met with silence and Hermione couldn't bring herself to look at any of them.

"In what way is that anything new?" Daphne spoke up suddenly. "I'm sorry if our presence is slowing you down but don't let us stop you from proceeding in your relationship with Harry as you see fit."

Hermione stared at the Slytherin in shock.

Ginny spoke next. "You have at least four years on me and five on the others. It's not unexpected."

"Umm." Harry voice come out very hesitantly and his face was bright red. "I appreciate how you think of me but I'm not sure I'd be ready. Being with all of you feels complicated enough without adding... that."

"I didn't mean it like that, I know you're far from ready for that step and neither am thanks to the Bond but... I figured without it, just the two of us... I would want to take that step and I think you might've been ready to too." Hermione was blushing as she fought her way though her words.

"Oh... Okay."

"Thank you for being honest with us." Tracy smiled. "You've been holding yourself back for our sake and we appreciate it but we have to build our own relationships. Don't hold yourself back on our account."

"Okay." Hermione finally relaxed and smiled. "Thank you."

Hermione boldly stood, marched over to Harry began kissing him firmly on the lips. Harry was frozen in shock. He may have been used to kissing Hermione now, but in front of everyone was new. Add to that, he felt the occasional brush of her breasts against his that was sending warm shivers throughout his entire body.

Emily returned with the requested bottle to see her half naked daughter half on top of her half naked, currently female, boyfriend. "So, you'll make out with him in front of them but not me. Fine, should I just leave then?"

Hermione pulled back in shock at her mother's words and twisted round to face her. Seeing the teasing grin on her face Hermione pulled a face of her own and turned back to Harry, sinking into his lap properly and placing one last firm kiss on him. Now Harry was nearly paralysed as his breasts were squished against Hermione's.

"Says the woman who let half of Europe see her boobs." Hermione replied as she finished the kiss, got up and returned to her seat sedately.

"Hey. It wasn't half of Europe, it was just that beach. And you might see things a little differently when all the other girls on the beach are just as exposed." Emily protested.

"Perhaps, but I think I might keep some things just for Harry." Hermione replied primly.

"So I don't count?"

"You're my mother, of course not. Your just here to chaperone in case my raging teenage hormones get the better of me and I ravish Harry in front of the others." Hermione teased. "Besides, it's not like you haven't seen me before."

"I'll grant you that, but if you keep teasing me then I'll match your attire and we'll see how quickly Harry has a meltdown." Emily teased.

"Hey, how did I get dragged into this?" Harry protested.

"Did you or did you not let my daughter sit in your lap and snog you while you both have your breasts bared." Emily stated firmly, but with amusement in her expression.

Harry was worried until he saw Emily trying not to grin and Hermione wink at him; that helped him relax and Tracy's comments from earlier in the summer came back to him. "Yes that is true to a certain extent but your daughter is not someone who takes 'no' lightly. Also, I am technically a guy so going topless while swimming is supposed to be normal."

"Very true." Emily nodded. "However, you are technically a girl right now."

Harry blushed and his arms covered his breasts instinctively. A bit of wandless magic later and Harry had towel covering his lap as he shifted back into his male form. "Is this better?"

"You didn't have to change on my account." Emily smiled. "Hermione certainly didn't seem to mind."

"Mum, leave him alone." Hermione growled. "I thought you and Dad would refrain from the traditional humiliation of your only child in front of her friends."

"We did. Have we brought out even one baby photo?" Emily grinned. "We still could you know."

The repartee had the other girls giggling but Harry was watching with a wistful expression.

"Mum." Hermione voice had nearly become a whine.

"Relax, Hermione." Susan interrupted. "We're the last people who are going to laugh at you for having such a good relationship with your parents. There are two of us here who don't even have parents."

"Indeed." Tracy continued. "While Daphne and I have good relationships with our mothers, it's nowhere near as fun as you two."

"Parv and I barely see our Mother." Padma admitted.

"My Mum is nice, but not like this." Hannah smiled.

"I'm here because I'm escaping my loving but smothering Mother and Luna's passed away when she was nine." Ginny finished. "It might've been nice if they had a camera to record some of the nicer moments."

"Ginny, that's a brilliant idea." Emily gushed. "A camera. You can take lots of photo's to record your summer. I'm sure this scene right now would bring back some happy memories."

"While I may not mind Harry staring at me, or even photo's of me, I'm not letting whoever develops the film gawk at my bits."

"Polaroid."

"Oh, yes. That would work." Hermione pondered. "I'd forgotten about those."

"Polaroid?" Daphne sounded out the unfamiliar word carefully.

"Most camera require special processes to develop the film, people usually take it somewhere to have it done for them, those we have the room to do it ourselves if we learn how." Hermione explained. "The Polaroid camera is different in that it will do all that for you. It's perfect for little snapshots to capture those moments you want to remember and you don't have to worry about someone seeing something you don't want them too."

"That sounds impressive." Daphne voice held nothing but sincerity.

"It's certainly the best option for times when some of have bare breasts. At least until we learn to process film's ourselves." Hermione grimaced and wrapped her arms across her breasts, hiding them. "I don't really want anyone else seeing me like this."

Hermione stopped suddenly and shook her head. "I can't believe that I'm actually agreeing to photographed topless."

"When it's with or for the person you love, you'll find things a little different." Emily assured her daughter.

"L...Love?" Hermione stuttered, flushing heavily. "I...I think it's a little soon to be throwing that word around."

"If you say so dear." Emily smiled mysteriously.

Hermione shot her mother a glare for that statement and dug into her lunch.

!HPEaSE!

Emily left soon after lunch and the others read and chatted for a while they let their food digest before returning to the pool. They got another couple of hours fun before Winky appeared to tell them that Hermione's Grandparents were home.

Hermione dried herself quickly pulled on her sundress, did it up and went to greet them. Harry and the others, unwilling to stop their fun, relocated to the indoor pool.

They hadn't been in here since they had initially toured the new Extension. Dobby had done wonders with his work on making waterslides. He had taken the bare concepts and run with them to create an interesting result.

There were four slides in all, ranging from a simple short, straight slide to a long slide that looped the room twice with nearly one hundred twists and turns.

Of course, Dobby had only taken the bare concept of a waterslide; Water rushing along a path to carry a person. This meant there was no actual physical slide, just a stream of water for them to ride. Entering each of the slides was a simple matter of stepping into a small pool of water and letting one's self be carried away.

Harry found himself grinning at Dobby's attempt at making waterslides and decided to try them before saying anything. Putting thought into action he stepped into the first of the slides and found himself swept gently up and then down the slide to splash into the pool.

Harry surfaced grinning. "That was fun. Next slide."

Everyone watched as Harry hauled himself out of the pool and went to the next slide. "Well, come on. What are you all waiting for?"

That got everyone moving and they followed him, each taking turns on each of the slides.

They middle two were pretty good but the last one was wild. Faster, it twisted, turned and even spun and spiralled giving Harry the feeling of flying on his broomstick. He was shouting for joy as he was launched out of the end of the slide and into the pool.

"Waahooo." Harry gushed when he surfaced again. "That was fun."

He waited patiently for the others to all finish their fun rides, including Hermione who returned during his wait, before going again. From then on he, and most of the others stuck to the last and longest slide. Padma found it too much and stuck to the second and third slides. Hermione agreed with her but would occasionally go on the fourth slide, just as long as she was doubling with Harry.

Harry was almost certain that some of her 'accidental' brushes against his breasts were not so accidental. Not that he could really complain. Hermione had removed her top again as soon as she had joined them and would alternate positions with Harry. He was sure she 'allowed' his hand and arm to brush her breasts as she pulled his arms firmly round her and settled them across her waist.

Not that he was going to complain. Those brushes, both the ones he was given and received, played on his skin like a soft fire. Harry was actually grateful for being female. The arousal he was feeling was much easier to hide than the massive hardness that would have bulged out the light swimwear he would've been wearing as a male.

!HPEaSE!

Harry was glad he had overcome the majority of his discomfort at being naked in front of Hermione, and at seeing her bare body too.

It was the morning oh Neville's birthday and they were getting ready. Harry had only just gotten out of his shower when Hermione, fresh from her own shower, had entered his bathroom in only a towel. A towel which had been tossed on to the long vanity moments after she had entered the room.

Hurrying him to get dry, she proceeded to help him with his hair and even applied a little light makeup to make him more presentable for the semiformal event they were about to attend. She had already laid out clothing for them both and provided him a helping hand when required. Harry was a little unsure about the lacy lingerie she had pulled out but held his tongue as he watch her pull on a similar set. The clothing she had chosen for them both were light white shirts and knee length skirts in pale colours; green for Harry and blue for herself. Over these they pulled, but didn't close, light summer robes in much darker colours to match their clothes.

The others dressed in similar fashions and Daphne gave everyone a quick reminder on how to address the formal matriarch of the Longbottom family.

So, on time and with presents in hand, the group stepped through the floo to Longbottom Manor.

Harry's increased balance meant he now only stumbled as he exited the floo and he didn't have to roll across the floor. He had removed his shoes prior to entry though. Hermione had picked 'girly' ones with small heals which would be suitable for the semi-formal affair but not for floo travel.

"Welcome to Longbottom Manor." Neville greeted them shyly as they had finished emerging.

"Neville. Happy Birthday." Luna cried out happily as she rushed to hug him.

"Ahem." A serious voice interrupted.

Luna didn't let that stop her from hugging Neville but she cut it short and turned to greet the older lady properly. "Good morning, Lady Longbottom. I trust you are well."

"I am. Please introduce your friends." Augusta Longbottom replied.

"These are Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley." Luna introduced the two Gryffindor witches.

"Lady Longbottom." They chorused.

"Neville speaks highly of you Miss Granger, and didn't you accompany him to the Yule Ball, Miss Weasley?" Augusta looked the pair over.

"I did. It was a fun evening." Ginny answered politely.

Augusta gave the girl a short nod and turned back to Luna, motioning for her to continue the introductions.

"This is Padma Patil." Luna continued.

"Lady Augusta." Padma greeted the older woman.

Augusta raised a curious eyebrow at the different greeting but said nothing.

"Next are Hannah Abbott and Tracy Davis." Luna smoothly moved past the awkward pause.

"Lady Longbottom." They greeted carefully.

"Welcome to you both. I am familiar with your father's, I trust they are well."

"Yes thank you." Tracy answered for them both.

"Here we have Daphne Greengrass and Susan Bones."

"Lady Augusta." They both spoke.

"Miss Greengrass, I hope your parents are well. It has been a while since I last spoke to your mother, I should remedy that. Perhaps you could join us?"

"I would like that. Thank you." Daphne gave a slight bow of thanks.

"You should come as well, Miss Bones. I'm sure you are proud of your Aunt's promotion. How has she been?"

"Very busy. I see too little of her these days." Susan replied. "Fortunately, my friends are excellent company. Thank you for you offer, I will await your invitation."

Augusta favoured the busty Hufflepuff with a small smile and looked at the last person to be introduced.

Luna's voice held a note of pride as she performed the final introduction. "Lastly, this is my older sister, Lord Harry Potter."

Augusta cleared her throat to cover her surprise. "Lord Harry Potter? You seem rather feminine at the moment."

"I do apologise for my appearance, Augusta." Harry carefully followed Daphne's instructions. "This seems to be a lingering souvenir of my last encounter with Voldemort. Not a conventional battle by any means, but still a dangerous one.

"I'm afraid I owe you another apology for my actions earlier this summer."

"For taking my Grandson to the Ministry to fight Death Eaters?" Augusta queried.

"No. That was his choice and he went against my advice. I'm glad he came though, he was very helpful. No, my apology is regarding Bellatrix Lestrange."

Augusta sighed. "It's not your fault she got away. As much as I would like to put her in her grave, you would be no match for her."

And that is why I must apologise." Harry countered. "I put her in her grave earlier this summer."

Augusta completely lot all her composure. "You're joking."

"No, Lady Augusta." Susan spoke up. "Auntie confirmed her death personally."

Augusta's gaze strayed to the girl as she tried to comprehend her words. Once they had sunk in she unceremoniously pulled Harry into a hug. "Thank you so much for ridding the world of that bitch who robbed me my of my children."

"Uh, you're welcome." Harry struggle to speak.

Augusta released him suddenly and forced her composure to return. "I apologise for my lack of decorum. Why would you think you need to apologise for that?"

"Well, you can't see her properly punished for her crimes against you." Harry explained.

"I saw that years ago and it didn't stop her from escaping." Lady Augusta replied "Now she can't hurt anyone else ever. I'll leave you to socialise amongst yourselves. Neville, have fun with your guests."

Augusta turned and left as quickly as she could without appearing to be hurrying.

"Did you really kill Her?" Neville asked quietly.

Harry nodded.

Neville looked at him carefully and gave a single nod. "Well, I've never seen Gran lose it like that before. I think she like you more than me. She even managed to wait until we got home before surprising me with a hug and telling me how proud she was of me."

"Sorry about that." Harry replied, turning red from embarrassment.

"Don't worry. That's a memory I'll treasure." Neville grinned. "You'd better watch out or you might find yourself invited along with Susan and Daphne."

"What was with that invitation?" Harry asked.

"It's a gathering of upper class ladies." Daphne explained. "To be invited basically means being accepted as a adult within that society. It's a good way of making contacts."

"And finding potential husbands." Susan growled. "She'd better watch out if she thinks she can do some matchmaking."

"I'm sure Harry can get her to back off." Neville was still grinning. "Come on, is my room okay to sit down in?"

"Would there be room for us all?" Harry asked.

"Yes." Neville replied simply and led the way.

The Manor was well maintained and spacious with memorabilia of all the historical Longbottoms displayed proudly.

"This is a nice place." Harry complemented his friend.

"It's home." Neville shrugged. "It's really only felt like that since I got back from Hogwarts though. I never felt like I fitted in here before. I have you to thank for that."

"No. You'd always had everything you needed. You just needed a little help getting it out." Harry assured him.

Neville nodded and seemed a little more relaxed. "In here."

He led them into a spacious room with a table and comfy chairs.

"This is your bedroom?" Harry looked around, unable to see anything that resembled a bed.

Neville pointed out the other doors. "Bedroom, wardrobe, study and bathroom."

"So you've your own suite." Hermione realised.

Neville nodded.

"Nice. Very nice." Harry complemented.

"Thanks."

Neville looked uncomfortable and struggle to find a new topic. "Umm, Harry, umm, so... How are you handling your... umm... changes?"

Harry chuckled ruefully. "It's had its moments but for most things it's not much different. For others it's completely different."

"I can't even begin to imagine." Neville commented, struggling not to stare at his friends busty body.

"Right. Presents." Luna stated as she handed hers over. "Happy birthday. I hope you like it."

"Happy birthday." Everyone else handed their gifts over as well so Neville had a pile on his lap and on the couch between him and Luna who was helping him.

Neville opened each gift and thanked the giver gratefully as he admired each item. His happiness was easily visible to everyone as an elf brought them a light morning snack and they began chatting with each other.

"So, how's your summer been?" Harry asked.

"Good." Neville nodded. "I've been learning a lot. Gran got an Uncle who's an Unspeakable to train me so I'll be of much more use in a fight next time."

"I hope that doesn't happen but that's wishful thinking at this point." Harry sighed.

"I'm ready to fight." Neville stated seriously. "Don't leave me out of this."

"I don't know how much I can let you in." Harry replied. "We've all been training too, but we've been training to work together as a team. I'm not sure how we'll include you. Or other's for that matter."

"A support team, or teams?" Daphne suggested. "We may have to take point but if he and others insist on fighting then they would be a great help in keeping the Death Eater's off our backs."

"It will also be a big help if Hogwarts or Hogsmeade is attacked." Hermione added.

"I think we'll focus in that direction." Harry nodded. "I'll keep the DA going this year too so we can work on practical application, teamwork and tactics to help everyone survive and fight back. If Hogsmeade is hit I think it's going to fall to the DA to get everyone one out safely."

"I'll be happy to help." Neville relaxed.

"Now that the awkward part is over." Daphne quipped. "What's a more fun topic?"

"How pretty Harry looks in a dress?" Neville suggested shyly.

The girls laughed and Harry groaned, slumping. "Get it out of you system now mate, if you try pulling that on a day that isn't your birthday I'll use you as my training partner."

Neville paled slightly at the threat. "But you do look pretty."

"I know, but I don't need reminding of it." Harry managed a small smile back. "I have enough reminder hauling these around."

Harry bounced his breasts slightly to indicate what he was talking about causing Neville to stare and flush heavily.

"I'm still Harry." Harry reassured Neville. "Just treat me as normal, and try not to stare too much; you might upset Luna."

Neville was instantly apologetic to both Harry for looking and Luna for not looking. Luna smiled and moved closer to him so they were touching.

!HPEaSE!

Lunch was a more formal affair with quiet conversation and Augusta mare sure to talk to everyone, starting with Padma where they cleared up Padma's status as Heir to her family, just not officially just yet.

Augusta was a gracious host, if rather formal, and ensured all her guests were comfortable and that the food provided was to everyone's liking.

After lunch, Neville showed that all around the grounds, including his own greenhouse where he eagerly showed each of the rare plants he was growing and explained all their properties. Hannah and Tracy were particularly interested and encouraged him continue focusing on the rarer plants where he could actually make a good small business for himself.

The afternoon passed quietly, sedately. In some ways it reflected who Neville was, but it was just what they wanted. No worries, just quiet relaxation as they strolled though the well maintained manor gardens.

Of course, this was Harry's life, these peaceful moments never last. This time it was ended by the arrival of Neville's trainer, the Unspeakable Croaker.

"What's this, lazing the afternoon away?" He appeared suddenly. "At least you picked some pretty company."

"I thought I had the day off for my birthday." Neville protested.

"You did, but I got bored." Croaker grinned.

"Oh let him off." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Like you'd know anything missy." Croaker looked the gender-altered wizard. "Go back to your doll house. I'm sure your tits would get in the way if you tried to fight."

Harry closed his eyes and gritted his teeth and struggled to keep himself under control.

Neville didn't bother trying. "Harry is the best dueller around. I could only hope to be as good as him."

"Him? Oh, you must be Harry Potter." Croaker looked him over. "You look a little different to what I expected. I also think your skills are overrated."

"Whatever." Harry fired back. "By the way, your security sucked. We just walked straight in."

"Okay, that's it you little brat." Croaker pulled his wand.

Harry exploded into action. He dove away from the others to get room to move and let them try and flank the Unspeakable.

Harry's movement was far greater than Croaker expected and, though he tracked him, wasn't quick enough to land a hit. Harry was rolled smoothly to his feet and had his wand out, casting prior to even fully righted. Croaker was immediately on the defensive as Harry's high speed spells moved far faster than he had ever thought possible.

That's not to say he was defenceless. As an Unspeakable he had access to spells that most wizards would never encounter and they were put to the test. Harry's speed and power were far more than the Unspeakable could've expected and his advanced shields were being put to the test.

"Interesting shield." Harry commented lightly, not stopping his spells.

"If you beat me, maybe I'll teach it to you." Croaker taunted.

Harry grinned. Keeping up the barrage to keep Croaker back and avoiding the few spells he manage to return, not that that was easy; some of those spells were pretty dangerous, Harry began to touch the Manor Wards, specifically the ones that would block Apparation. He carefully created a small passage past his opponent.

Harry completed his passage and suddenly Apparated behind Croaker, but not before leaving a series of spells of varying speed to keep him focused in that direction. Croaker was good and used a new shield that surrounded his entire body so the entire attack failed. But it was funny to see Croaker think the Apparation Wards were down and try to Apparate himself, only to fail.

That gave Harry the upper hand for a moment but not for long. Croaker's experience and spell range allowed him to regain ground. They traded spells for a moment before Harry tried something different. He fired a simple disarming curse at Croaker's head followed by several other hexes and quietly flicked a full body bind at his legs with his off hand, using wandless magic for the first time.

Croaker's wand lifted to flick the disarming curse aside but missed the body bind as he shifted to counter the next spell. The body bind landed freezing him. The experienced Unspeakable immediately began trying to counter it but there were several other spells that were now impacting with his body and sending him flying.

Harry followed up with two extra body binds and then tied him up in ropes and hoisted him up into the air upside down and relieved him of his wand. "You had enough or do you want more?"

Croaker glared at him and struggled to break his binds. Harry noticed he was beginning to succeed and release the spell holding him in mid air, letting him hit the ground heavily.

"You've lost so play nice." Harry scolded. "Or do I need to use something nastier to keep you down."

Croaker groaned from having hit the ground hard. "So you can play rough. Good to know."

The Unspeakable managed to free himself and got to his feet pulling a spare wand. "You have a lot to learn little boy, girl, whatever."

Harry's eye's narrowed as he focused and the Unspeakable found himself flung backwards forcibly as a huge impact struck his stomach with no warning and left him on the ground gasping as his spare wand flew into Harry's hand.

"You might want to reconsider surrendering." Harry stated. "If not, then the next spell I cast will be really nasty. I could accidentally remove a few ribs, I understand it gets pretty unpleasant if you lose even a couple."

Croaker grinned. "Now that's good. You do have a few tricks up your sleeves."

"When can I expect the spell lessons?" Harry grinned back.

Croaker pulled a book out. "I was bringing this for Neville, he's worked hard and could be an Unspeakable in the future. He's family too, distantly, but the closest I have left. This was to be his birthday present but I think you've earned a copy."

Croaker retrieved his wands and created a duplicate of the book using a complicated spell. "I'm giving this to you, don't spread it around."

"Just my family." Harry nodded.

"Your immediate family." Croaker clarified.

Harry nodded. "I can live with that."

Neville was grinning. "That was amazing Harry. I've never seen anyone move like that. I've definitely got a lot to learn. You'll help me once school starts again right?"

"Sure Neville. I'll be happy too." Harry clapped his hand on Neville's shoulder.

!HPEaSE!

Ann picked up the ringing phone. "Hello."

"Officer Anderson?"

"Speaking."

"We met at the hotel. I gave you something to deliver. Have you made the delivery?"

"Oh, you again. Yes, I made the delivery."

"Why have we not been contacted?"

"Dunno. He wasn't sure. I'm not going to pressure him." Ann stated firmly.

"Very well. Good day, Officer Anderson." The line disconnected.


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

Harry's birthday has finally arrived and it's a steamy chapter to boot. Enjoy all.

**Chapter 26**

Harry woke on the morning of the 31st and lay there relaxed for a moment before rolling out of bed and heading for his martial arts lesson. With his knowledge of Harry and his mission, John was pushing Harry's training hard to help him prepare.

When Harry returned to his room he found Hermione waiting for him, with breakfast.

"Hey, what's up?" Harry looked confused.

"I just wanted some alone time with you." Hermione smiled. "Eat and go shower, I'll be waiting here for you."

Hermione unbuttoned her shirt revealing she had nothing underneath. "Don't take too long in there. You don't want me to get lonely do you?"

Harry shook his head as he accepted the bowl of cereal from her, trying hard not to just blatantly stare at her partially exposed breasts.

Hermione laughed and pulled her shirt completely open. "Stare all you want Harry. I wouldn't let you if I didn't want you too, but you need to eat too. Just don't choke on your breakfast."

Harry nodded numbly, eating mechanically as he watched Hermione pull a book onto her lap and begin reading while she waited while engaging Harry in light conversation. Her occasional gestures were enough to cause her breasts to bounce slightly.

When Harry finished eating Hermione chased him into the shower and took his bowl to their kitchen.

"Where is he?" Ginny asked as she took the bowl.

"In the shower." Hermione answered.

"You can keep him in there for an hour and a half." Ginny paused as she noticed Hermione's open shirt and mostly exposed breasts. "Yes, of course you can. Just don't enjoy it too much."

"Sorry, but I'm just really going to enjoy it a lot." Hermione smiled in anticipation.

Ginny pouted. "I may sneak in an join you for a bit then. It's just odd with you baring yourself."

"There is nothing wrong with you not being ready Ginny." Hermione assured her. "It's easy to forget this but I'm nearly two years older than you. Take your time. Please don't let me or Harry make you feel rushed. I don't want you to do something you regret and neither does Harry."

"I just feel a little left behind." Ginny looked close to tears. "You two are getting naked with each other, I'm betting you have a special night planned him tonight too."

Hermione nodded and caught Ginny by both hands as she spoke passionately. "Yeah. I'm sorry. We're not leaving you behind. When you're ready to take these steps yourself I'll help you make it special. Please don't give up. I like having you around. It feels odd doing things with Harry when you're not there. If it was just Harry, you and me then I would say yes to this bond."

"Really?" Ginny perked up.

"Really." Hermione smiled sincerely. "There are a few things where I want my first time to be just me and him but I'm sure you'll want the same. I'm not pushing you away. Please join us if you get the chance."

"You okay distracting Harry? I know you want to help set up." Ginny asked.

"I really want to help set up but I know my tendency to go overboard." Hermione quirked her lips. "I am also the best person to distract Harry at the moment."

Ginny glanced at her open shirt again. "Yes, you can definitely distract Harry. I really do wish I could help like that."

"You will, when you're ready." Hermione told her. "I think Harry will need plenty of distracting on occasion in the future."

"You'd better get back there." Ginny sighed. "I'll go help the others."

Hermione nodded and returned to Harry's bedroom. She relaxed on his bed after pulling off her shirt and skirt leaving her naked. She did have her own lingerie to put on sitting next to the clothes she had picked out for Harry for the day. She had picked a simple comfortable pair since she knew she would be pretty active today.

Harry, freshly showered and with a towel wrapped around him, emerged from his bathroom to see Hermione lying on his bed reading, completely naked.

"Like the view?" Hermione asked without looking up.

"Yeah." Harry managed to reply.

Hermione smiled as she looked up at him and used one hand to motion him closer while tossing her book to the far side of the bed with the other. When Harry reached the edge of the bed Hermione reached up and pulled the towel off him and took his hand to pull him onto the bed next to her.

"Let have a little fun before joining the others." Hermione whispered before placing her lips firmly against his and rolling on top of him, feeling his warm skin against hers.

-Light Lemon-

Hermione marvelled at how comfortably their bodies fit together as she instinctively parted her legs and let Harry's body slip between them. She stifled a moan as their pelvis' touched sending warmth through her entire body. She deepened their kiss passionately, a moan of pleasure forming deep in her throat.

Their bodies moved together smoothly as Hermione wriggled and pressed herself deeper to increase contact with Harry's body; increasing her pleasure as she did so. She could feel the heat and desire building within her and felt her self control vanishing. It scared her a little and she pulled back suddenly, sitting up on Harry's lap.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked worriedly.

"Too okay." Hermione was panting a little. "Sorry, but if I didn't stop then we would be going much far."

"Sorry." Harry slumped apologetically.

"For what? Giving me enough pleasure to make me lose control?" Hermione swatted his shoulder very gently. "Never, and I do mean NEVER apologise for that. Just pick moments where we can enjoy it fully."

Harry blushed heavily at the lust filled gaze Hermione placed on him before she reluctantly removed herself from his lap. "Come on, let's get dressed before they come looking for us. I've got an idea for you to try out."

"Should I worry?"

-Light Lemon End-

Hermione chuckled. "Not this time. I think you'll like this one."

Harry was a little surprised when Hermione pulled out a sports bar and simple soft cotton panties. Normally Hermione would push a tiny, sexy set with lace before relenting and offering a set that was plainer and not quite as sexy. Hermione's excuse was usually that Harry was far too good looking a woman to just let him dress like a guy. This time she had picked out a simple shirt and shorts.

"Not that I'm complaining but why?" Harry asked as he looked the simple clothing over.

"You are getting better control over your male form but you may not always have the luxury of changing clothes with your form. I thought I'd try something more gender neutral on you. Something that wouldn't look out of place on either form."

Harry pondered the clothes and nodded. "Thanks."

Harry dressed, though he took longer than normal as Hermione was dressing also. She was tempting Harry as she put it on. Harry pouted when Hermione pulled her dress over the top.

"You look really good." Harry noticed suddenly as Hermione settled her dress.

"Thank you." Hermione lit up. "Come on, get dressed. I want to plait your hair."

Harry nodded and finished dressing and let Hermione sit him down on the bed and sat behind him to brush his long hair out and begin plaiting. Ginny showed up during this and helped Hermione finish Harry's hair.

"You look good." Ginny complemented.

"This is only step one." Hermione said. "Let's see if my idea works. Harry, can you change please."

Harry nodded and shifted to his male form.

"Well, the clothes don't look too out of place." Hermione looked him over carefully. "I think you could go out in public like this without drawing undue attention."

"But I will still draw due attention huh?" Harry adjusted his panties. "It's just a little odd wearing panties as a guy, though I'm getting used to it. At least this pair are big enough to keep me from just falling out."

"I hoped they would be." Hermione admitted. "I can't imagine that it would be comfortable half hanging out. How's the bra sitting?"

Harry pulled at it slightly. "Okay I think. I can live with it."

"Good." Hermione nodded. "Change back."

Harry relaxed and changed back and pulled at his bra again. "I seem to have gone back relatively in place. Enough to live with."

"A girl can get away with little adjustments like that, even in public." Hermione said absently as she looked him over. "Just keep it discrete. Shift back."

Harry nodded and changed again.

Hermione gave him a final look over and nodded. "I think that just right."

Hermione stepped forward and planted a firm kiss on him. "Why don't you stay like this for a while. I'm sure you'll feel a bit more comfortable."

Hermione released him and Ginny eagerly stepped into the vacant space and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him down so she could kiss him passionately, slipping her tongue into his mouth.

Hermione watched the pair kissing. It was interesting, she expected jealousy but didn't feel it. Maybe it was the Bond or maybe she, like she had said to Ginny earlier that morning, had fully accepted Ginny's place in Harry's life and was comfortable with the scene in front of her. If anything she was finding it a little stimulating. She wondered if that was how she looked when was making out with Harry.

"Okay, that's enough you two." Hermione reluctantly stopped them. "Unless you want me dragging you both to bed."

Ginny pulled back and pouted. "Okay, come on. The others are wondering where you two are. Let's go."

Harry nodded and headed for the door but Ginny held Hermione back quickly.

"Would you really have dragged both of us to bed?" Ginny asked quietly.

"I was tempted." Hermione admitted. "It was a bit of a turn on watching you two snogging like that. I meant what I said earlier. I could share him with you easily. I wasn't at all jealous watching you two. Sort of surprised me actually."

"I hope I can avoid jealousy seeing you both too." Ginny replied quietly.

"Hey, what's keeping you two." Harry called from the doorway.

"Sorry." Hermione replied. "Come on Ginny."

Hermione pulled Ginny with her and two joined Harry, parting company only each take one of Harry's hands and pull him along with them.

They led him downstairs and out into the backyard.

"SURPRISE!"

Harry jumped and was about to begin casting but the firm grip the two girls had on his hands prevented him long enough to see what was actually going on. The backyard was filled with people, people Harry knew... for the most part.

He recognised his friends from Hogwarts and even a couple of the professors, John and his wife, Kate, her elder sister and friends, even the Gryffindor Quidditch team and the Weasley boys. He saw his former Captain Oliver Wood with a number of people he didn't know.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"It's your birthday party." Hermione explained. "We felt you'd missed out on too many as it was and wanted to try and catch you up."

"Uh. Umm. Wow. Thank you." Harry stumbled over his words. "I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything. Just enjoy yourself." Ginny told him. "Come on."

"Hey Harry." Ron made his presence known. "You're looking much more male. You managed to solve your problem?"

"Partially. How've you been?" Harry asked.

"Better. Those Occlumency lessons are really tiring and I don't have Snape pounding on my skull. I don't know how you managed it."

"After Snape I actually found it pretty easy." Harry commented. "It does take a fair bit of commitment to get it done though."

Ron nodded and glanced around. "I saw those two Slytherin here and I swear I saw Malfoy's mother too."

"Narcissa? Yeah, probably. She's not so bad, once you get to know her." Harry shrugged. "And Daphne and Tracy are really nice. They've become really good friends. I hope you can get past this prejudice of yours towards Slytherin and get to know them. I think they are going to be around for a long time."

"You're picking them over me?" Ron looked shocked.

"No. Not unless you make me. You were my first friend Ron. Please just trust me and don't make me leave you behind." Harry said intently.

Ron looked uncomfortable but nodded. "Just promise they won't go running to Malfoy. Or his mother."

"Malfoy is dead Ron." Harry said quietly. "And Narcissa is nothing like him. He took after his father."

"Malfoy is..." That was as far as Ron got before Harry silenced him.

"Shut it Ron." Harry growled. "I don't need you blurting things out to everyone. "

Ron looked angry at being silenced.

Harry glared hard. "You don't get to be angry this time Ron. I want to level with you but not if you can't keep your mouth shut. Think about that."

Harry turned away and left to greet his next guest. Neville. "Hey Neville, good to see you again."

"You too. You look very different." Neville noted.

"Thanks, I was trying." Harry chuckled.

"You succeeded. How long will it last?"

"A couple of hours at least. More I hope." Harry checked his watch. "I should make it though lunch and then some before I have to change back."

"That's going to turn a few heads." Neville grinned.

Harry rolled his eyes but grinned back. "I'll catch you later."

"Harry." The Weasley twins ambushed him from either side.

"Gred, Forge." Harry greeted the exuberant pair.

"How've you been?"

"We heard you'd developed quite the feminine side..."

"But you're looking decidedly masculine at the moment." The pair ping-ponged their conversation back and forth.

They clapped him on his back and paused as their hands encountered something they hadn't expected.

"There's something rather more feminine." One of them grinned.

"You two have a simple choice." Harry growled. "Either you two make a deal about this and end up in a world of hurt or keep quiet and get to do some really cool stuff."

"Tough choice, Harriet."

"We'll keep quiet for the moment."

"But your cool stuff had better really cool."

"Or we'll take serious action."

Harry gave them a smile but there was no humour in it. "Serious, you have no idea what you're getting into."

Harry clapped the pair on the back, putting some energy into it, just enough to knock them off balance.

His next encounter was with his former Captain, Oliver Wood; and several people he didn't know.

"Hi Oliver." He shook hands with his friend. "Long time no see. Who are all your friends?"

Oliver looked embarrassed. "Hi Harry. I was at a practise game between my team and the Holyhead Harpies when the invitation arrived. They got curious and invited themselves along."

"Ollie said he knew you. We had to see for ourselves if he actually did, or if the rookie was just blowing hot air." One of his teammates interrupted.

"So you're just here to humiliate him?" Harry grinned. "Feel free . I owe him some payback for all the sunrise practises he inflicted on us."

"I go out of my way to make you the best Seeker I can and this is how you repay me?" Oliver protested.

"I don't have a problem with that, you just didn't have to do it at five in the morning." Harry fired back.

This had the professional Quidditch places laughing.

One of the Holyhead Harpies leant closer. "I heard rumours about you having been turned into a girl. If that was true we were thinking of offering you a tryout."

Harry groaned. "Just what I needed. A tryout from the famous all female Quidditch team. What's worse is that I can mean the requirements. The rumours are true, which is a novelty I assure you, I've just learnt a means of changing back for a while."

"I hope to see how you fly later. I'm the Holly Harper, Seeker for the Harpies, it'll be interesting to see what happens."

"Holly Harper? I imagine there are a number of jokes about that." Harry commented.

Holly rolled her eyes. "Don't get me stated. Catch you later."

Harry spent the rest of the morning catching up with everyone, including his teachers. Lunch was served outside, the elves quickly and efficiently setting up the tables and chairs and serving the massive meal.

The meal itself went smoothly with lots of fun and laughter. The mix of magical and non-magical dishes appealed to all present, both for comfort and for the more adventurous. After lunch Harry opened his presents. He received a interesting mix of books, some sporting gear, some clothes and received some ribbing when he got both male and female items. Dobby's eccentric choices in socks and underwear drew laughs though Winky's choices were tasteful.

Once the presents were opened the party was moved 'indoors' to the World Room. Those who had encountered the room before were fine and headed towards the mountain with transfigured ski gear. Those who were new were stunned by the massive, intricate construction.

When they reached the lodge and the rope-tows to the various ski fields, there Harry was introduced to snow sports, using warming charms to replace the traditional ski gear. Hermione had picked up skiing during some of her holidays and Daphne and Tracy surprised them with some prior knowledge too. Their surf lessons helped their balance on the soft surface and Harry, picking a snowboard over skis, quickly picked up the necessary skills and was soon zooming down the slope.

All the girls were finding it easier due to their Animagus training, though the felines had the greatest increase in balance and picked it up the fastest. Kate and her friends, having boarded before were helping the newbie's get started before hitting the advanced slopes.

Harry surprised everyone when he had to change during the skiing. Those who were present were shocked by the his familiar messy dark hair being replaced by the long, flowing red locks and his shirt billowing out in front as his large breasts formed. Harry adjusted his bra and noticed the people around him staring and flushed.

"Do you mind?" He glared at them. "This is bad enough as it is without you lot staring."

Holly Harper was one of the few around him at the time. "But you're just so pretty. You'd make a good Harpy. We just need to test your skills. Perhaps a little match?"

"We had planned a game for later." Susan said. "We were going to form a team to play against his Gryffindor team."

"Ooh. Fun. Maybe we can have a match ourselves." Holly grinned before she headed back up the slope for another run.

"I'm looking forward to that." Harry grinned as he headed up the slope himself.

That would be the last run before they all gathered at the Quidditch stadium. There those who hadn't seen Harry's change or met his female form were surprised to see the busty red-head in rather familiar clothes.

"Hello, gorgeous." One of Oliver's teammates sidled over to put the moves on Harry. "I'm Gabe Jameson. And you are?"

"Harry Potter." Harry growled. "Hit on me and I'll hit you."

That got the rest of his teammates laughing. "Always nice to see you strike out Gabe; though this must be a new record. Never thought you would hit on a guy."

"Shut up." Gabe snapped.

"Ouch."

"Nice not to be the butt of the jokes for a while." Oliver commented.

Another teammate ruffled Oliver's hair. "I'm sure. Come on, let's see you play."

Oliver resumed his role as Gryffindor Captain and Keeper while Charlie took the Seeker position. Ron looked put out until Ginny shoved him.

"Come on, we need a Keeper. Up for it?" Ginny told him.

"I don't have my broom." Ron complained.

"You can borrow this." Hermione handed him her broom.

"A Nimbus 2000. Where'd you get this?" Ron looked amazed.

"It's mine; I've been getting over my fear of heights and learning to fly. Please look after it." Hermione told him.

"When did you..." Ron began.

"Forget about it." Ginny hauled Ron onto the pitch. "Let's fly."

Ginny took to the air with Daphne and Hannah. Hannah wasn't as strong a flyer but did a good job as support during their sneaky practises while Harry was at his martial arts lessons. She was borrowing Harry's broom so she could keep up with the other Chasers. Susan and Luna paired up as Beaters and Harry took his usual place as Seeker on the broom Sirius gave him.

The Chaser trio knew they weren't as good as the Gryffindor Chasers, they lacked the experience but Ginny and Daphne made a very good team and Hannah held her place well. Susan and Luna made a good Beater team, though again not as good as the Gryffindor Beaters. The twin's seemed to share a single consciousness. The only real advantage was their brooms; six Firebolts and a Nimbus 2000 for the Keeper. They had the mobility and speed to try and make a difference.

Harry was going to be the key to their victory. If they could keep the score close then Harry could win by catching the Snitch. They were going to relying on Ron to be on his game though.

Charlie greeted his old teammates as he unveiled his on surprise. He had a Firebolt too.

"Just a little thing I treated myself too when I got back from Romania. You tend not to spend much living in the Reserve Camps, but you get a lot of hazard pay. " He grinned to the others and waved it to Harry. "Looks like you won't have any advantages over me Harry-girl."

"Do you really think I need any?" Harry tossed his response back. "Let's fly."

Padma walked between the two teams carrying her broom and levitating the box of Quidditch balls. "I'll be your referee today. If you're all ready then take to the air."

The two teams launched and when they were in position Padma released the balls and threw the Quaffle up for the Chasers before taking to the air herself. Ginny reached the Quaffle first on her faster broom but Alicia easily swept it out of her grasp and dodged past Hannah who tried to intercept her. Luna had managed to get to a Bludger and sent it to try an intercept but Alicia easily dodged it. She got into position and fired the Quaffle at the left ring but Ron managed to catch it.

Ginny was still further up the field but Daphne was sweeping close to receive the Quaffle. Ron instead tried to throw it to Hannah but Katie had caught up to mark her and intercepted and threw it at the opposite ring. Ron dove and managed to knock it away only for Alicia to dive for it. Daphne managed to read the flow and was already diving and her faster broom just managed to beat the experienced Chaser and looped round to head up field with her hot on her tail and Katie trying to intercept. Angelina stayed near Ginny to try and block a potential pass.

Harry growled and moved his search pattern near the goal to talk to Ron. "Why didn't you pass to Daphne? You know she was open. You had no chance of getting it to Hannah with Katie right there."

Ron glared but Harry wasn't finished.

"I told you that you had to put your Slytherin problems aside. Even if you can't do that then at least play the game properly. She's your teammate for the time being." Harry snapped.

"Sorry." Ron slumped unable to find an argument against the Quidditch angle. "I'll try."

"Thank you." Harry calmed down. "I would like to win if we can."

"Me too." Ron smiled.

Harry gave his friend a nod and flew off to continue his hunt for the Snitch.

The match was surprisingly even. The Gryffindor Chasers pulled ahead by three goals early on but then Ginny, Daphne and Hannah got into their groove and began holding their own. Ginny and Daphne's teamwork was of the highest level and the Gryffindor trio were hard pressed to hold them off. Oliver suffered too as they got a feel for him and began getting the Quaffle past him. Even Hannah had her moments to help throw off the experienced Keeper.

Ron struggled too. He lacked the experience to hold off the highly experienced trio of Gryffindor Chasers though he did an admirable job. The twins were at the top of their game but they struggle to tag the girls and Susan and Luna were catching up though their targets were even harder to hit; they did manage to protect their Chaser and harass Charlie. The twins nearly gave up on trying to hit Harry, his flying skills were better than ever and he proved it too.

Harry suddenly broke out of his search pattern dove hard to the right. Charlie followed aware of Harry's knack of feinting and trying to spot the Snitch past the flying red plait of his opponent. Harry kept an erratic flight path and increased the angle of his descent until he actually went past the vertical. Charlie followed but rolled to stay atop his broom. This proved to be his undoing as Harry suddenly pulled up and Charlie instinctively followed. Harry's timing was perfect and he barely touched the grass of the stadium floor.

Charlie was completely misaligned for the manoeuvre but realised almost immediately. He abandoned his pursuit in an effort to avoid the ground and almost managed it. Instead of going into the ground face first at full speed he managed a controlled crash landing, rolling along the ground and regaining his feet.

"Damn, that was good." Holly gasped and turned to Bill. "Oi, you, you're his brother right? Why the hell did he not turn pro? There are few who could have pulled out of that move. And Harry? That kid can fly."

"This looks pretty damn dangerous." Kate looked concerned. "Couldn't flying into the ground like that kill him?"

"No. This is an International Standard pitch. They're are layered with safety charms. At worst he would've suffered a couple of broken bones and a concussion." Tracy answered.

"The last death during a match was nearly a decade ago." Holly added. "That was a really bad tangle between the two Seekers."

"It still looks rather brutal." Charlie commented.

"The magical world is kind of a rough place." Hermione replied. "A lot of its traditions are quite old and you are aware of some of the nastier beasts around."

"Yeah." Charlie shivered.

"Oh?" Holly asked.

"We went surfing with them and had a visit from a Welsh Green." Hermione explained.

"Ouch." Holly gasped. "No one got hurt right?"

"Only the Dragon." Hermione grinned.

"Wow." Holly wasn't the only one staring in both shock and awe.

"Hey, I think they spotted the Snitch." Tracy interrupted.

They looked up to see Harry and Charlie in close proximity chasing something.

"Can you see the Snitch?" Tracy asked, hunting for it.

"Yeah. It's there." Holly pointed it out.

"Man, that is hard to see." Kate could barely make it out.

"It keeps things interesting." Holly tossed her a grin.

Harry and Charlie were neck and neck until the Snitch shifted direction wildly and Harry's lighter weight allowed him to take a tighter turn and take the lead. This didn't last as Charlie used his position to take the inside line on a few turns and slowly gained until they were neck and neck again.

"It's taking them a while." Bill noted.

"Hermione, what sort of Snitch did we get?" Tracy asked suddenly.

"Umm. Dunno. I think we just got the best set they had." Hermione replied after thinking about it.

"So we probably got a top level professional set." Tracy guessed.

"Wow." All the Quidditch players were staring at pair instead of the action momentarily. "They are flying at professional level?"

"I thought they looked good but that's something else." Holly added. "Makes me want to go up against them. I'm not actually sure I'd win."

"Considering it takes a Dementor attack to beat Harry to the Snitch, that's not surprising." Hermione gave a dry grin.

Tracy snickered. "He does tend to take things overboard doesn't he?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "To my eternal despair."

They turned their eyes back on the action about them.

"Harry's looks to have the advantage. Charlie seems to keep losing sight of it and follows Harry until he spots it again. If Harry notices he can use it to his advantage." Holly noticed. "Though that would be next to impossible. To be able to follow the Snitch, the bludgers and keep that close a track on your opponent is just too much."

Hermione and Tracy exchanged a look and grinned to each other.

The game had continued while the Seeker chase continued. The Gryffindor Chasers fought hard but the their opponents were improving quickly. The initial three goal lead was increased to seven but now was being clawed back. They were now only up by five and they were struggling to maintain it.

The twins were still dominating the bludgers but struggle to tag Harry. In fact they were more in danger of hitting their own brother as Harry would dodge in a pattern that would bring Charlie into the path of the bludgers whenever possible.

Susan and Luna tried various attempts to regain some semblance of control but the near instinctive communication between the twins was tough to beat. They had adjusted their moves several times and with Harry's ability to avoid bludgers they had focused more on protecting their Chasers and harassing the others, fielding the bludgers away from the twins as much as possible.

Harry was aware of Charlie losing sight of the Snitch. His increased awareness from his Animagus forms and his duelling training alerted him to the bludgers in plenty of time to avoid them and even pull Charlie into their path when he could. He noticed early on that Charlie would alternate between following passively and pushing hard. It took much longer for him to work out why. Now he just waited for a moment when he could exploit this knowledge.

The Snitch puzzled him too, he never remembered it being this hard to catch. But at least Charlie seemed to be having the same if not more problems. Harry had lost track of how long he had been chasing the Snitch but he persevered as always.

Finally everything came to a head. The Snitch was perfect positioned for a capture and Charlie had lost it. Harry feinted away and quickly reversed his movement to catch the Snitch. Charlie fell for the feint and found himself struggling not to fly head-first into one of the stands. It put him completely out of the fight. The twin's saw this but on Fred had a Bludger handy. He fired it at Harry but knew it would be too slow as the young Seeker arced towards the elusive golden ball.

Harry closed in on his prey unopposed, but this is where things went wrong. The Snitch jerked sharply into a new direction, moving inside the arc of his turn. Harry gritted his teeth as he tightened his turn as much as possible but instinctively knew that he wouldn't make it. He pulled his feet up, forcing his body to move against the g-forces his manoeuvre was putting him through and with a heave of his hand got his feet onto his broom shaft. A moment later and he reached the closest point to the Snitch and leapt for it. He lunged through the air horizontally, stretching hard until his fingers closed on the cold metal of the flying ball.

At this point, as he breathed a sigh of relief that his risky move hand worked, he realised that his situational awareness had shrunk when he made his final play for the Snitch. He noticed this as his awareness expanded and he noted that he was now freefalling from about forty feet in the air. There were also quite possibly a couple of people screaming too.

Before this summer he would have been in quite a tight situation but now he the means of dealing with it. After his session with both his Sensei, John, and Hermione's Grandfather, Philip, he discovered the option of moving over buildings. His first attempt, when he accidentally discovered it, was a dismal failure but he had practised it since then and had found a means of performing the jump successfully. A concentrated burst of air, straight down then swirling back up, acted as a cushion to slow his fall to a manageable and controllable rate.

His legs absorbed the remaining impact with practised ease bringing him to a safe landing.

With that the match was over. The spectators stared in shock and fear at the climatic finish before there was cheering. Hermione and Tracy sped out of the stands and down onto the pitch as the rest of Harry's team flew down to where he stood.

Harry absently summoned his broom to him as they closed in on him. His joy at catching the Snitch faded as he saw the looks on the faces of the girls approaching him.

"Harry, that was totally dangerous and reckless." Ginny yelled. "You scared me to death when you jumped off your broom and started falling. The Snitch isn't worth your life."

The other girls echoed the young red-head's opinions. So did Hermione and Tracy when they joined him.

"I'm sorry but I've been training for this." Harry apologised and tried to reassure the both angry and terrified girls. "That may have been a little higher than normal but it still worked the same."

"You've been practising jumping down from dangerous heights?" Hermione asked dangerously.

"Sure, ever since I fell off the roof while I was sparring with Sensei and your Grandfather, I been working on learning how to handle higher falls ever since." Harry explained.

Hermione glowered dangerously. "Grandfather has been training you to do that?"

"Yeah..." Harry backed off hesitantly, a little scared of the intense look he was getting from the girl.

"Right, I'll be right back." Hermione spun on her heal and stormed off towards the stands in search of her Grandfather.

Ginny watched her friend go. "I think her Grandfather is in trouble now."

Daphne giggled. "Just a little. You really scared me Harry."

"I'm really sorry everyone." Harry apologised again. "I didn't mean to scare all of you."

"It's okay." Daphne waved it away. "You just need to remember that you can do things that we can't and that's going to scare us sometimes. Please remember our feelings too."

"I'll try." Harry said contritely.

"Thanks." Ginny gave him a hug. "Good catch by the way."

"Better than good." Fred made his presence known.

"Brilliant." George finished.

"You're certainly out of my league." Charlie said. "Scared me to death with that first feint, and again with that last one. I have no idea how you managed to keep an eye on the Snitch that entire time."

"Yeah, it was much harder than normal." Harry noted. "Maybe I'm just rusty. I missed most of last season thanks to the Toad."

"You think you're rusty?" Charlie gasped. "I must be hopeless then."

"Umm, actually..." Tracy spoke up. "I think we may have gotten a Top Professional set instead of a School set."

"We were flying at a professional level?" Charlie yelled.

"Nearly." Holly chuckled. "But with a bit more work and you could be. Harry on the other hand, I wouldn't want a match against you. You're insane."

"Blame Ollie, 'Catch the Snitch or die trying' he said." Harry grinned ruefully. "I kinda took it to heart."

"And drove the rest of us balmy with fear at his recklessness." Ginny sighed tiredly.

"Yeah, sorry." Harry looked a little embarrassed.

"So that's the reason." Daphne and Susan spun towards the former Gryffindor Keeper.

Oliver found himself getting smacked around the head from both sides by the two girls. He found himself on the ground with his ears ringing, staring up at the two.

"Next time, keep your dumb advice to yourself." Daphne snapped down at him.

"Or we'll do more than just smack you around a little." Susan finished in a growl.

"Yeah, okay, I promise." Oliver whimpered, looking terrified.

"So that's how you do it." Angelina groaned. "If we knew that it would've made our lives so much easier."

"Yeah." Katie added, tiredly. "Really good game though. You three started a little rough but you got up to speed quickly and really came together as a team."

"Thanks." Ginny smiled. "We practised as much as we could but we didn't have as much time as we would've liked."

"You all did wonderfully." They were joined by the other Quidditch players. "Now, if you can clear the pitch, it's our turn. Let us show you how it's done."

They put their money where their mouths were and showed just why they were professional players. Their speed and precision where exceptional.

Daphne was watching them with as highly critical eye. "They are better than us, but I don't think they are that much better. I think that if we practised enough, we could challenge them on equal footing by the time we graduate."

Susan nodded. "We don't really lack much in the way of skill. It's the teamwork were we fell down. Time's the only thing that can fix that. Time and practise, like you said."

"Are you suggestion we go pro after Hogwarts?" Ginny asked.

"No, we won't really have the time with everything else we want to do to join a regular team." Susan said sadly.

"Harry could start a team though." Daphne suggested. "We could be his team, it'd be something we could do together after Hogwarts and we start doing those things we want to do. Even if we're all together we won't get much time to do things like this unless we make time. Our own team would be perfect, it's not like we'd actually need to be paid to play."

Harry pondered. "Not a bad idea really. It has potential."

"For fun and as a money making venture." Tracy added. "It'd be a nice simple business to start on our own and get some real practise in."

"We'll knock the idea around a little and see what we come up with." Harry told them. "I'm sure I can find somewhere to build our own team stadium if we need one."

"Is it really okay to just start a new team?" Hermione asked.

"That's a brilliant idea." Angelina interrupted. "I'm sure you could really expand it into more too. If you do start it, I may come looking for a job."

"We will see what positions we have available." Tracy said in a formal business fashion, prompting a laugh from everyone."

The game was played furiously, but fairly. They didn't want to get injured outside of an official match and kept the violence to a minimum, but their competitive streaks were on fire and both teams wanted to win.

Holly, in particular, want to prove she was second to none at seeking. even the gender shifting Wizard she had been watching with fascination earlier. She led her opponent around the pitch by his nose with ease .

Harry watched the pair of professionals strut their stuff with avid interest and studied just how they moved through the air and tried to trick and distract each other while hunting for their elusive prey.

It was educational, they performed tricks he had never seen before and there was something in how they flew that he knew was missing. Not skill or anything like that, just a quality that only came from the toughest of competition. Harry pondered. Perhaps starting his own team would be a good idea, he could challenge himself on this level, but on his own terms with people he would be proud to fly with. This was something to aspire too.

This thought got him pondering. Was this quality of ability present in all skill? Were those who sat at the highest levels of their chosen profession always going to have that certain something? Perhaps this would be something he would need to attain for himself. Something that would give his the edge he needed to defeat Voldemort and the half century of experience he had over him.

The Harpies won the match when Holly swept the snitch out from under Gabe. Cheers rose from the stands but they were for the game in general more than for one team. The party returned outside where people chatted happily with each other, making a dinner out of the copious amounts of food left over, until they had to leave.

Soon it was just Harry and the girls heading inside to Harry's bedroom to be alone, chased off by the two chirpy elves who were cleaning up the mess.

"So, did you have fun?" Hermione asked as they all settled on his bed to talk.

"Yeah." Harry was smiling broadly. "Best day of my life."

"I'm glad." Hermione smiled in relief. "We wanted to make today the best birthday ever."

"To make up for all the ones I missed." Harry guessed what was left unsaid. "You succeeded. Thank you. All of you."

"You're welcome." They replied to him.

They talked happily about their favourite parts of the day, Hermione surprising Harry by sitting behind him, unplaiting and brushing his hair out as they talked. For a while at least.

"I'm getting a bit tired. Perhaps we should turn in, it's been a long day. A lot of fun but a really long day." Hermione broke the conversation suddenly. "I might have a shower first though."

"Yeah, it has been a wonderful and tiring day." Harry admitted. "The shower idea sounds good though."

"Okay, see you in the morning." Daphne gave him a hug before departing.

The others followed suit, though Ginny added a kiss on his cheek, and Harry headed to shower.

Hermione was back in his room when he left the bathroom.

"Um, Hermione?" Harry asked in confusion.

"I don't want this day to end just yet." Hermione admitted. "I just didn't want any company for this."

She tossed him a light dress, similar to what she wore herself and motioned for him to follow. Hermione sneaked them down the corridor past all the bedrooms and downstairs into the World Room.

Hermione grinned. "That was fun. Come on. There's something I want to do with you."

"Hermione?" Harry was confused as she grabbed his hand and pulled him along. "What's going on? You're not acting like yourself?"

"I know and I'm liking it." Hermione grinned at him, her cheeks flushed in excitement. "Not all the time, but occasionally, I don't want to be responsible."

Hermione pulled him into a run and the two chased across the grassy fields of the massive room. It was night in there but the simulated full moon lit everything in its brilliant silvery glow.

Harry followed his best friend to the river and along its banks to the small lake. At the closest point to the island she stopped and pulled off her dress revealing her naked body beneath it.

"Come on." Hermione encouraged him as she splashed into the water and began swimming towards the island.

Harry followed suit and slashed into the water after her. The cool water coving his own bare body. He knew he wasn't a strong enough swimmer to catch up, at least not in his own form. Hermione was a little surprised when a familiar white tiger caught up to her and bounded up the island's beach when they reached the shore. Harry reverted back to human and sat on a rock to wait for her.

"Cheater." Hermione pouted before catching his hand again and pulling him across the island to a small grass area near the waterfall.

Set up in the clearing was a blanket with glasses and food. Harry spotted what he thought was a bottle of wine.

"Hermione? What's going on?" Harry asked in confusion.

"I wanted to do something special for your birthday." Hermione told him. "A special romantic moment for just the two of us. Winky was most helpful in setting all of this up."

"Winky?" Harry quirked an eyebrow.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know. I knew I couldn't hide all of this easily and asked her to distract people to cover for me. She insisted on setting all of this up for me instead. She didn't think I'd do it right. I have to admit, it's better than I could've done."

Hermione sank on to the blanket and looked the wine over. "I'm not a cognisor but this looks quite nice."

She pulled the loosened cork and poured a glass for them each. "A toast?"

"To what?" Harry asked as he sat next to her.

"To.. us, and a night of romance. And occasional irresponsibility." Hermione raised her glass.

"Sounds good." Harry touched his glass to hers.

The both took a sip and enjoyed the smooth sweet wine.

"Let's see what else we have." Hermione looked around. "Strawberries, pieces of melon, blueberries and chocolate dip. I think we can enjoy this."

"I wonder if Winky thinks romantic moments should be sweet." Harry commented. "Are you sure that's watermelon? I thought it was red, not orange."

"It's rock melon, not watermelon. I prefer it personally." Hermione explained.

"Ah." Harry nodded. "Well, I've not had either before so I can't compare but if you think it's nice." Harry reached for a piece and ate it, nodding his appreciation for the taste.

Hermione followed suit with a strawberry, dipping it first. Harry copied her but a small trickle of chocolate caught on his lip and he mumbled an apology and he licked at it to clean it up.

Hermione found herself staring at the disappearing chocolate and his tongue, wishing it was her licking it away and turned her attention to her glass to hide her sudden blush.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked as he reached for his own glass.

Hermione waited until he was taking a sip before replying. "I'm fine, just thinking naughty thoughts."

Harry spluttered a little at her unexpected response and reflexively his other hand moved to wipe his mouth. "Sorry. I'm making a mess."

-Lemon-

Harry wiped his chin but Hermione was fixated on the dribble he missed that had dripped off his chin and on to his chest. Harry moved to wipe that bit away but was stopped as Hermione caught his hand. Harry watched her as she leant in and slowly licked the trickle of alcohol off his chest.

"Nice." Hermione looked up at him with smouldering eyes.

Harry was frozen in shock as couldn't resist as Hermione gently released his hand and moved to take his other one, still holding his wine glass, and guide it closer and then tip it so that the wine splashed across his chest and breasts.

Hermione gave him a lustful smile and leant back in to begin lapping the wine away, taking small licks and working slowly down his chest and on to his breasts. Harry unconsciously leant back to let Hermione have easier access and couldn't hold in a moan of pleasure at the gentle, intimate attention she was giving him.

She pulled back, when she had cleaned the last of the wine out of his cleavage with her tongue and smiled sexily. "Now that is a wonderful way to have wine. Want to try?"

Harry blinked in surprise at the invitation and stared as Hermione leant back and raised her own glass. Making eye contact with him and holding it, she tipped her glass and let her own wine splash liberally on to her breasts.

"Care to clean me up?" She challenged him seductively.

Harry couldn't believe he was seeing this side of his bookworm of a best friend but found himself mesmerized by her and let her draw him to her and begin mimicking her actions and cleaning away the spilt wine with his tongue.

The wine itself was nice but this, with something extra that was uniquely Hermione, tasted unbelievable. Harry couldn't resist hunting for every last drop of the liquid, her cleavage, the underside of her breast and, finally, around her nipple.

Hermione couldn't resist moaning and pushing her breast into Harry as he lapped away the wine but as his tongue traced around her nipple her moan increased to a cry and she buried her free hand into his hair to hold him closer, driving her nipple into his mouth.

Harry froze as Hermione suddenly caught his head and pushed her breast into him and he found her hard nipple pushed between his lips. In his surprise he tried to inhale but found her breast blocking his mouth fully and the end result was him sucking at the nipple.

Hermione cried out louder in pleasure at the unexpected, and unintentional, action and pushed her breast harder into him.

Harry couldn't believe what was happening to him. He kept sucking, Hermione was obviously enjoying it, but soon found himself needing air and tapped at her to release him.

Hermione got the message and let him come up for air, but only for a moment. Harry had only gotten a couple of breaths before Hermione captured his lips with her own and kissed him intensely.

"Wow." Harry gasped as they finally broke the kiss. "That was incredible."

"Yeah." Hermione panted a little. "I really don't want this to stop."

Putting her words into action, Hermione pulled him back in for another passionate kiss. They didn't stop until Harry was forced to pull back, panting for breath.

"Sorry." He panted.

Hermione wrinkled her nose at him. "I told you to breathe through your nose."

"Oh. Woops." Harry looked embarrassed at not having remembered her previous advice.

Hermione took pity on him and poured some of his wine across his breasts and leant in to lick him clean. Harry couldn't catch his breath due to the incredible sensations Hermione's tongue was causing him as it lightly traced across his skin. Hermione seemed to be torturing him with how long she was taking to lick him clean as she worked her way around the underside of his large breasts and then into the depths of his cleavage.

Her finish was to work her way back to the tips of his mounds and suddenly engulf his hardened nipple with her mouth and firmly sucked it clean, lightly tracing her tongue across it's tip. Harry's world exploded in pleasure as incredible new sensations flooded his senses. His cry of pleasure burst out of him uncontrollably as he instinctively pushed into her, seeking more pleasure. He broke off into a whimper as Hermione pulled back but it was only to shift to his other breasts and Harry's cry's of pleasure included a sigh of relief at the resumed attention.

Hermione finished with Harry's breasts and moved up to continue kissing him intensely, moving herself into his lap and pushing him flat with the weight of her body. They ignored as the last of the wine remaining in their glasses spilt as they focuses on nothing but each other.

Hermione shifted to get comfortable on top of Harry and moaned suddenly into Harry's mouth as she caught herself just right. She couldn't resist shifting again to trigger the burst of sensations from her groin. She kept up her motions, stimulating herself further and hunting for the same point on Harry's body.

She grinned to herself, deepening her kiss, as Harry moaned loudly, signalling her success. She kept up her motions, fighting against her own desires to keep them slow and steady, building the intensity gradually. She refused to rush this. Harry had started his own movement and they had fallen into a steady rhythm. Their lips barely parted the entire time and their throats vibrated under the other's intensifying moans of pleasure.

Harry came first. His eyes widened suddenly and he clutched at Hermione tightly as he broke free of her lips to cry out in his intense pleasure. Hermione gave into her own desires and thrust her hips into Harry, increasing the speed of her motions until her own climax hit. Her hips bucked uncontrollably as her orgasm rolled through her. As it subsided she was left limp and panting on top of Harry.

"Wow." Harry managed to gasp.

"Yeah." Hermione agreed. "I think we'll be doing that a lot."

"No complaints here." Harry grinned up at her.

Hermione wrinkled her nose at him before kissing him, smiling the whole time. Harry, trying to get a little more comfortable, rolled them over so they were on their side, still cuddling.

"Sorry, was I getting heavy?" Hermione asked.

Harry, post orgasm haze aside, knew better than to say yes. "No, this is just a little more comfortable at the moment."

Hermione kissed his nose. "Nice answer."

They lay together in quiet companionship until Hermione couldn't resist the lure of the fruits nearby and lifted herself up over Harry to reach them. Harry was rolled on his back and found himself with Hermione's breast tantalisingly close and couldn't resist kissing the nipple gently.

Hermione sighed at the sudden intimate contact and held her position, only lowering her body slightly to make it easier for him. She reached for the melon and ate a couple of pieces before snagging another and pulling back to feed it to Harry.

"Mmm. Thanks." Harry relaxed back.

Hermione reached back over for more fruit, this time deliberately planting her breast into Harry's face. She returned with two pieces and fed one to Harry then, rubbing the other on the nearest of his nipples, she sucked the juices off it before eating the fruit.

Harry moaned around his mouthful before managing to swallow. "If you keep doing that we're going to… you know again."

"Make love?" Hermione kissed him. "Ever think that might be my intention?"

"Really?" Harry blinked. "I… well… umm, please continue then."

Hermione laughed briefly before giving him another kiss. "Well, if you insist."

Hermione reached for more fruit, this time avoiding Harry's lips. Harry pouted in protest until she rubbed a piece on her own nipple before leaning forward into his range. She moaned in enjoyment for a minute before pulling back and popping the fruit into his mouth and repeating her earlier actions with Harry's breast.

"Can I eat fruit this way from now on?" Harry asked once his mouth was empty.

Hermione giggled. "It is fun isn't it. It might be a little awkward In front of the others though."

"True." Harry lay back.

Hermione reached back over Harry but not for the fruit this time. She brought back the bowl of chocolate dip. She placed it within reach but out of the way and took a scoop out with her finger and smearing it on her breast for Harry to suck clean. When he had finished she took another scoop which ended up on Harry's nipple which she eagerly sucked clean herself.

Harry clutched her head to his breast in pleasure. "It's a pity we can't do that to each other at the same time."

Hermione pulled back and pondered the idea. She moved round so that she was kneeling above his head and leant over him. She moaned in pleasure as she felt Harry attach himself to her other breast and gently lifted Harry's breast to her own mouth.

"Good idea." Hermione gasped as she finally pulled back.

"Thanks." Harry was gasping for breath himself.

Hermione looked Harry over for a minute. "Want to take this up a notch?"

Harry looked at her in confusion. "Umm, after everything we've done, how would you suggest we do that?"

Hermione picked up the bottle of wine and shifted her position. Leaning back she poured a little trickle of wine pour out onto her stomach. Putting the bottle down she shifted her body to guide the wine down her body until it vanished between her legs.

"Well?" Hermione beckoned him closer. "Enjoy."

Harry gulped and began licking the wine off her stomach, working downwards towards her groin. He was poised above it, unsure if he should continue when Hermione gently pushed his head down and leant back completely and spread her legs more to gave Harry better access.

Harry gently began licking down between her legs, tasting the wine mixing with the juices that had leaked from her from their previous activity. The vastly different tastes mixed oddly well and Harry eagerly lapped at them. Hermione pushed her hips up slightly, into Harry.

"Merlin Harry." Hermione moaned. "That feels incredible. Harder, please."

Harry pushed harder with his tongue and felt it slip between her lips. Hermione's moans increased as Harry's tongue pushed into her most intimate area, forcing her lips wider. Harry began focusing his attention as Hermione gasped out a few directions until he was doing it exactly how she wanted and the only noises she could make were inarticulate noises of pleasure.

Hermione just soaked up the attention but, as much as she was enjoying it and as much as it was turning her on, she was no closer to her climax. She gently pushed Harry back so she could sit up on to her knees and pulled him up for a kiss, ignoring the her own taste on his lips. Her hand reached down between his legs and began sliding between his wet folds.

"Touch me like this." She begged him.

Harry needed no further encouragement and reached for here, mimicking her moves. They knelt in front of each other, kissing passionately as their fingers sank deeply into the other's burning centre, their breasts brushing together as they moved.

Hermione's free hand planted Harry's firmly on her nearest breast and she alternated her own between Harry's breast and burying it in his hair whenever he tried to pull back for more than a couple of seconds.

They lost track of time in their world of pleasure, conscious of only the other as they drove each other to the peaks of pleasure until their orgasms crashed over them. They clung to each other until the waves passed and, freeing their fingers, they gently lay down in each other's arms to recover.

-End Lemon-

Hermione looked at Harry who seemed very thoughtful. "You okay? You did enjoy that right?"

"Merlin yes." Harry reassured her. "That was more incredible than before."

"I'm glad." Hermione relaxed and snuggled a little closer as Harry began gently stroking her back. "You just seemed lost in thought."

"I was a little." Harry admitted.

"Care to share?"

"Well, it's a little embarrassing."

"After this, you can tell me anything." Hermione tickled him a little playfully.

Harry squirmed to fight her off. "It's just… well… After the Ministry Ball for Amelia, someone visited me and did that to me. I'm pretty sure it was you but I've terrified of asking in case I was wrong and I really don't want to ruin the mood, though I probably have now that I've actually told you like an idiot."

Hermione kissed him. "You're not an idiot, but talking about a sexual encounter with another girl, right after making love probably isn't the best idea. You're safe this time though; it was me."

"Why did you keep who you were hidden?" Harry asked softly.

"I was too embarrassed to do that in front of you if you knew it was me." Hermione admitted. "It was quite a powerful experience the way it was though."

"I really enjoyed it." Harry said smiling. "There is one thing though…"

"Yes?" Hermione prompted.

"Did you mean what you said. You know, as you were leaving." Harry looked scared.

Hermione nodded and leant in to kiss him. "Yes, I did. I do love you. A lot."

"Really?" Harry sounded hopeful.

"Really. I love you." Hermione told him. "I'll tell you every day from now on if you want, and I'll mean it every time."

"Thank you." Harry's voice was thick with emotion and his eyes were moist. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Because I didn't want to put any pressure on you. I know you're not ready to say it back and I don't want you to say it until you know you mean it." Hermione explained. "I'm in no hurry so take as much time as you need."

Harry looked down. "I really wish I could."

"I know. Don't worry about." Hermione hugged him.

"I really do like you. I can't imagine what my life would be like without you in it." Harry told her.

Hermione leant in and kissed him again. "Thank you."

She gently began stroking her hand across Harry's breast and felt him shiver it the intimate, sensual contact. They stayed that way for a short while, gently stroking each other.

Hermione sighed. "Do you feel a little odd, like something's missing?"

Harry frowned. "Yeah."

"I keep looking around for Ginny." Hermione said. "I've gotten used to her being here while we make out."

"We did a little more than 'make out'" Harry grinned. "But it is different without her here."

"I doubt she would've been comfortable with what we just did to each other." Hermione grinned. "I don't think that I would've like an audience either."

"Might've been a little awkward." Harry agreed.

"True. We'll have to think of something nice for her though. I don't want her feeling left out." Hermione told him.

"Yeah. Her birthday is coming up too isn't it?" Harry asked.

"In a couple of weeks." Hermione confirmed.

"You know, I got her that dress for a present." Harry admitted. "But I've never actually gotten presents for anyone before. I've never had the chance to really. I worried about what to get you and the others."

"You've never really gotten presents from anyone before today either." Hermione added. "Nor have you really been able to buy anything so it's not your fault. I'll help you find things for the other's."

"Thank you." Harry said gratefully.

"I'm not getting them for you, just helping you learn how to pick things." Hermione clarified.

"That's fair. Could you give me a pointer on what to get you?" Harry looked hopeful. "You're turning seventeen. That's a big deal."

"Talk to my parents." Hermione teased him.

Harry pouted causing Hermione to giggle a little as the settled down and resumed stroking each other in a comfortable silence.

Hermione reluctantly broke the silence. "We'd better go, it's getting late."

Harry couldn't hold in a small groan but nodded. "Yeah. Thank you for a wonderful evening."

Hermione was sitting up but stopped and leant down to kiss Harry again for his words. "You're welcome."

They finally swim back from the island. Harry used his white tiger animagus form again for its higher swimming ability and Hermione gently clung to his side.

Back on the shore Hermione protested loudly as Harry did what any cat would do and shook himself hard to get the water out of his coat. Harry return to his human form grinning and Hermione treated him to his own shower by shaking the water out of her hair on to him.

She turned and bent over to pick up her dress from where if lay and Harry watched as her nether lips came into view between her legs. He couldn't resist reaching over and gently touching them. Hermione squeaked in surprise and jumped away, turning and reaching behind herself to cover herself.

Harry was immediately apologetic. "Sorry Hermione. Are you okay?"

Hermione relaxed. "No, it's alright. You just surprised me a little. Maybe later."

Harry relaxed. "Okay."

"You can make it up to me if you want." Hermione's body language turn sultry.

"How?"

"You can give me a ride on your Unicorn form." Hermione stated.

Harry laughed. "Sure. Can you bring my dress?"

Hermione nodded and picked it up as Harry shifted forms. Hermione draped the two dresses over Harry's equine neck and took a running step and jumped up on to his back so she could swing a leg over and sit upright.

"Let's go." Hermione encouraged. "Giddy up."

Harry didn't 'giddy up'. He instead turned his head so he could give her a dark look before setting off and settling into a steady trot.

Hermione found herself remembering Tracy's words on the day Harry first completed this form. The Unicorn's fur was still silky, even though it was damp, and Hermione loved the feeling of it rubbing her between her legs. She was further stimulated by the powerful back muscles rippling beneath her.

She was getting quite turned on as Harry left the river bank and headed across the fields of the golf course to the Club House. Hermione was reluctant to dismount when they reach the Club House and Harry reverted so he could enter the building and return to the Extension.

Hermione, aroused and feeling playful, tickled Harry bare bottom and ran past him laughing as Harry protested and chased after her. She led him back upstairs and tricked him in the living room to push him on to a couch before fleeing down towards her bedroom. Harry rolled off the couch and resumed his chase.

Ginny lay on her bed, fully aware that her roommate was missing. Harry wasn't in his room either and Ginny could only assume that they had gone off together. She'd left the door open a little and kept herself awake so that she would know when they returned.

She needn't of worried. If Hermione's running feet on the carpeted corridor hadn't woken her through the open door then Hermione barging in and landing on her bed next her would have.

Ginny stared and spluttered at her naked friend's exuberance.

"Come on." Hermione grabbed a hand and began hauling the younger red-head off her bed. "We're bunking with Harry tonight."

"Shouldn't we bring our blankets?" Ginny protested as she was pulled out the door.

"We won't need them." Hermione pulled harder as Harry caught up with them.

Ginny stopped resisting as Harry shifted to his white tiger form and she ran into Harry's bedroom with Hermione in a last attempt to avoid Harry.

Ginny wasn't the target as the two girls jumped onto the bed. Harry in his massive feline form bounded onto the bed and began licking Hermione all over as she squirmed and giggled, trying to escape.

Ginny watched their play before jumping up to shut the door and shifted to her own animagus form and jumped on the pair to use her increased mass to push Harry off her friend and attack him with her own tongue.

Hermione watched the two great cat's tussle and play. She wished her own form was big enough to join in without being hurt accidentally. She grimaced as she wiped at the saliva Harry had liberally coated her body with and left the two large felines to their fun and headed to the bathroom to rinse off. She wasn't alone for long as the two cats jumped in the bath next to her showering her with water.

Harry and Ginny reverted to their human forms, laughing.

"Have fun you two." Hermione grinned as she splashed water back at them.

"Yep." Harry grinned.

He gave himself a final dunk and got out of the bath and headed for the towels. Hermione followed him and caught the towel he tossed to her and then protested as a second one landed on her.

"What was that for?" She protested.

"It's for Ginny" Harry replied.

Ginny was hesitant to get out. Her nightwear was soaked, clinging and more than a little transparent. Hermione held up the towel to protect her modesty so Ginny could get out and cover herself.

"I'll go so you can get dry." Harry said as he headed for the door. "Can I get you something to change into?"

"A t-shirt and panties would be nice." Ginny asked.

Harry nodded and shut the door behind. Ginny stripped off her wet clothes and began drying herself.

"So, did you two have fun?" Ginny asked.

Hermione nodded vigorously. "It was wonderful."

"I guess you won't want me around much anymore then." Ginny looked depressed.

"Why not?" Hermione looked confused. "We both missed you tonight. Maybe it would've awkward for us all this time but I don't want to exclude you. Neither does Harry."

"What did you two do?" Ginny asked.

"Well, we started with wine and fruit with chocolate dip. Then we started drinking the wine off each other's bodies. Things just got carried away from there, but we gave each other a couple of orgasms." Hermione gushed to her friend. "It was wonderful. Harry's hands are amazing and he's a fast learner."

"Wow." Ginny looked depressed. "He won't be interested in me anymore."

"Why not?" Hermione asked. "You're really cute."

"If you say so but why would he want me when you're giving him so much." Ginny looked to be on the edge of tears.

Hermione pulled her friend into a hug, ignoring their nakedness. "You know Harry's not like that. Don't sell yourself short just because you're not ready for some things. You're still fourteen, something we forget sometimes."

"Hey, I'm nearly fifteen." Ginny protested.

"And I'm nearly seventeen and Harry is a guy." Hermione countered. "We're ready for much more than you are. Don't rush yourself because of me. Take your time. Neither Harry nor I would be happen if you got hurt rushing into something you're not ready for because of us. Promise me okay."

Ginny slumped and nodded. "I promise."

"Take your time." Hermione continued. "Don't rush. When you're ready you can have him to yourself for a night for some real fun. I'll probably have a few more suggestions for you to make it even more wonderful."

Ginny giggled. "I'm a little jealous of how you can put yourself out there like this."

Hermione gave her a little bow. "Taking the step isn't easy but, if you're ready and it's with the right person, it's worth it."

Ginny nodded. "I get the message. I won't rush."

Ginny finished drying and firmly wrapped the towel around her body. Hermione just gave her hair a final rub with the towel and tossed it aside, reaching for a brush to run through her hair to tidy it up.

"I'll go get what Harry picked out for you while you finish up." Hermione said as she left the room.

Harry had picked out something for Ginny to wear and left it by the bathroom door so Hermione only had to move it to the bathroom counter. Harry was still naked and was attacking his long hair with his towel to dry it. Hermione, still holding the brush, moved in behind Harry to help tame the red mass.

"Should I put something on?" Harry asked. "I wasn't sure."

"I wasn't going to." Hermione told him. "We have to consider Ginny but she has to adjust to our new dynamic too. Are you okay being naked in front of her?"

"Yes, surprisingly." Harry realised. "Being topless must've allowed me to adjust a bit first."

"Good. I'm glad you're comfortable." Hermione was relieved. "It was fun sneaking around naked but I don't think I'd want to just parade around in front of all the others. Not just yet anyway."

Harry shuddered. "Me neither. I'm sure they'd be nice about it but… Sneaking around was exciting though. I thought sneaking around Hogwarts under my cloak was fun."

Hermione giggled. "You'd better not suggest a naked run through Hogwarts."

"No way." Harry jerked round to look at her. "Though, in our animagus forms, who'd know?"

Hermione looked scandalised at the notion before stifling a giggle. "Imagine Professor McGonagall's expression if she caught us."

Harry laughed. "She'd probably be so shocked we could escape before she got the chance to give us a detention."

"What's so funny?" Ginny finally left the bathroom.

"Just the look on Aunt Minerva's face if she caught us if we were to use our animagus form to run around Hogwarts naked." Harry explained.

Ginny spluttered. "You… She… Why… Where did 'that' come from?"

"We kind of enjoyed sneaking around the house naked but didn't think Hogwarts was such a good idea." Hermione expanded on Harry's words.

Ginny just shook her head. "And I thought the twins' were bad. I don't think they ever tried that."

"I don't think we will either." Hermione replied. "Come on Harry, we need to brush our teeth before bed."

"Right." Harry nodded and followed her into the bathroom.

Ginny slid into the bed and waited for the other two. They had left the door open so she had a good view of them as they stood before the bathroom mirror. She felt a little jealous of the little touches and playful bumps they gave each other, completely at ease with the other even though they both wore nothing.

They had found a new dynamic, Ginny realised, and she felt a little left out. Still, she knew she couldn't join them as she was, that was a step too far, but she wondered what it would be like. Would they even like looking at her. Harry looked incredible. Athletic and slender with large perfect breasts. Hermione's figure looked good too, toning nicely with all her exercise and with much smaller, but still full, breasts.

Ginny knew her body was well toned too, having always been more active than her older friend and training harder over the summer, but she felt inadequate in the breast department. And she had freckles.

She could help but watch the happy pair and hope, one day, she would be there with them looking just as good.

"You okay?" Hermione surprised her.

Ginny shook herself, realising she had been daydreaming a little. "Yeah, just lost in thought."

"Good one's I hope." Harry smiled at her.

Ginny nodded and shifted over to give the other two more room.

Hermione pushed Harry in first and slid in after him. Lying Harry down on his back she lay her head down on his nearest breast, quite blatantly using it as a pillow.

"Comfortable?" Harry asked in amusement.

"Very." Hermione shifted to kiss his nipple before settling her head back down. "You make a wonderful pillow."

"Good to know I'm useful for something." Harry sighed.

"Hey." Hermione protested. "I just want to be really close to you. You can use mine tomorrow night if you want."

Harry blushed at that idea. "If you really want me too…" Harry's nervous whisper trailed off.

Hermione sat up to give him a firm look. 'Of course I do."

Hermione lifted herself over him and brushed her nipple against his lips, inviting him to take it in his mouth.

"If I'm willing to let you do this." Hermione managed to say around her moan of pleasure. "Why wouldn't I let you cuddle up to them."

"Okay. Thank you." Harry looked much happier and more relaxed after that.

Hermione smiled and settled back down.

Ginny was bright red at watching that exchange and lay down, head on a pillow, as close as she dared without touching Harry. "You don't mind if I'm here?"

"Of course we want you here." Hermione, her words punctuated by Harry's fervent nodding, reached over to pull the younger girl closer until she was firmly cuddled up to Harry's other side and left her hand resting on her hip. "Sweet dreams Ginny, Harry."

"Sweat dreams." Harry echoed.

Ginny was a little too embarrassed to answer but snuggled into Harry's side and closed her eyes. Hermione's hand began tracing lazy circles on her hip, in time to Harry's soft breathing, but rather than cause her to tense, Ginny found herself relaxing and drifting off to sleep.


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Note**

My apologies to all for the massive delay in posting the latest instalment. All I can say is that I've had a lot of other things on in my life that have taken priority.

As such I have prepared a double instalment, two chapters for the price of one.

**Chapter 27**

Harry woke to find Ginny had joined Hermione in using his bare breasts as pillows. Ginny had shifted sometime during the night and was still fast asleep. Hermione was awake and watching her sleeping friends with a content smile.

"Morning lover." Hermione greeted him softly as she noticed his breathing change.

"Morning." Harry grumbled.

Hermione caught the less than happy note and sat up. "Are you okay? After last night I'm still really happy, I would've thought you would be too."

Harry gently rolled Ginny over so he could sit up. "I dunno. I just feel, I don't know, out of sorts, weird. Maybe I'm coming down with something."

"Oh, that would suck." Hermione pouted. "I won't be able to play with you or kiss you. Although, if I've caught it too, we could snuggle in bed and be looked after together."

Harry managed a smile. "I glad that being sick could be fun too. I need to get up, I've got training soon."

"Maybe you should take a day off. If you're getting sick then you should take it easy." Hermione insisted as she placed her hand on his forehead. "You don't seem feverish."

"I can't take the time off, there's too much to do." Harry protested as he struggled out of bed.

Hermione watched as he moved awkwardly across the floor to the bathroom and shook her head. His habit of driving himself too hard was one she would have to break. Making himself sick wouldn't help anyone. Though she had to admit to herself she could be just as bad as him at times.

Hermione quickly pulled on her clothes and hurried downstairs to try and catch John Adams before Harry got there. She was surprised to find him already arrived and in the lounge enjoying a cup of tea with her father.

"Morning, sleepyhead." Her father greeted her. "Does this mean Harry will be joining us soon?"

"Yeah, he's just in the bathroom." Hermione looked a little confused. "Did we oversleep by that much?"

"Yes, but we haven't been waiting that long." Dan grinned at his flustered daughter. "We didn't think you would be up for much after Harry's party yesterday."

"Actually, Harry seems to be coming down with something." Hermione explained. "He doesn't seem to have a fever but he's not at his best. Of course Harry, being Harry, refuses to take it easy and insists on having his lesson."

"I'll go easy on him." John promised.

"Thanks." Hermione managed a brief smile before her expression turned grim again. "Now I just have to get Harry to take it easy on Harry. At least I can get the others to help."

"A bit of a handful is he?" John grinned.

"You have no idea." Hermione sighed. "Some days I really wish I could just chain him to his bed. If I didn't love him so much I... Never mind, that's part of what makes him so lovable."

Hermione turned and left, returning to Harry's bedroom. She passed him on the way and made sure to give him a hug and a brief kiss. She ducked into her room to grab a book before getting back into Harry's bed, completely naked again and settling in next to Ginny. Ginny, sensing the warmth next to her, rolled over and draped an arm over Hermione's lap. Hermione smiled and let her friend get settled before setting her book in her lap and used her free hand to gently stroke Ginny's hair.

!HPEaSE!

Harry was having a miserable time. He could tell John was taking it easy on him and guessed Hermione had had a word with him. He would've protested if his body had been working right but he just felt too weird. He had no idea what was going on. Kate was a little disappointed that she didn't get to spar with him but gave him a hug and hoped he would get better soon.

When he returned to his bedroom he had a pleasant surprise. Hermione sitting there naked, reading quietly with Ginny, still asleep, curled up next to her.

Hermione had jerked slightly as he opened the door, moving her book slightly to cover herself but reversing the motion and relaxing when she recognised him.

She patted the bed next to her. "Come on, strip off and come here and cuddle me. You may feel off but being close to someone can help a bit."

Harry nodded and pulled off his clothes and clambered across the bed to join her. Hermione gently caught his head and drew it to her breasts. Harry flushed at the intimate contact but soon relaxed into her. Hermione closed her book and gently tossed it aside. As she was still stroking Ginny and now had Harry to stroke she didn't have a free hand to turn the pages. Instead she just relaxed and just felt the warmth of the two bodies against her.

She smiled to herself. She had been concerned about how it would feel having a third person there but this just felt nice. She felt no threat to her relationship with Harry by having Ginny so close. She would soon find herself tested more though.

There was a gentle tap on the door and it opened a crack. "Can I come in?" Daphne's voice floated in.

"Is there anyone with you?" Hermione asked quietly.

"No, it's just me." Daphne replied. "We were wondering where you were so I volunteered to come find you."

"Come in then." Hermione said as she reached over and flipped the sheets over Harry's waist. "Just shut the door behind you please."

Daphne pushed the door a little wider so she could slip in and shut the door. Turning to look at them she froze and blushed a little. She had not expected this. Hermione sat their calmly as the still sleeping Ginny cuddled up on one side and Harry lay on the other, half on her as his head rested against her bare chest.

"That looks, umm, cosy." Daphne blinked, struggling for something to say.

Hermione had to fight to stop herself from giggling at the Slytherin girl's expression. "It is actually. Want to join us?"

Daphne's mouth dropped in surprise at the offer and she actually stammered a little. This time Hermione did laugh and a half dozing Harry protested as he got jostled by her bouncing chest. Ginny finally stirred too and looked around groggily.

"Morn'ng." She yawned. "Whasso funny?"

"Daphne." Was all Hermione managed.

"Oh." Ginny turned her head and could only just make out Daphne through her bleary eyes. "Morn'ng Daph. When'd you get here? I need to use bathroom."

With that Ginny rolled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. Harry had given up on Hermione as a comfy place to rest his head and was now on his pillow with his face against Hermione's hip.

"What's going on?" Daphne looked a little worried. "Normally Harry would be up and about by now. Didn't he have his training this morning?"

"Yeah, but he's not feeling well." Hermione looked down at Harry. "We might have to move things in here but we need to shower first."

Daphne gave the gender altered wizard a concerned glance. "I'll let the others know. Will an hour be enough?"

"It should be. Ginny or I can come let you know if we're ready earlier or need more time." Hermione replied.

"Okay. I hope he gets well soon." Daphne said before leaving.

"Me too." Hermione whispered.

When Ginny returned she was much more awake was very concerned about Harry. She quickly showered and helped Hermione get Harry into the shower then got their clothes ready. Harry seemed to be going downhill. He was lacking energy and moved oddly. He could only describe it as a whole body ache.

Hermione was a little disappointed. She had specifically waited to shower so she could join Harry. She had hoped for a continuation of last night but that plan had been shot to hell. With Harry getting worse she was getting worried. She wanted Tracy to give Harry a look over but she would help make Harry look presentable first.

When Harry was finally dressed in soft, gender neutral clothing and settled back on the bed Ginny ran to get the others. When they all turned up they were still wearing their bikini's. Even Daphne had shed the summer dress she had been wearing on her previous visit. Ginny hadn't returned with the others. The reason was revealed when she showed up a couple of minutes later in her own bikini.

Hermione pouted. "I should go change too. I feel a little left out."

"Then go ahead." Daphne replied. "Harry can rest in my lap."

Harry tried to sit up on his own. "Sorry I'm such a mess."

"Don't worry about it." Tracy shut him up as she knelt next to him with her wand out. "It could happen to any of us. Just hold still and let me check you out."

Tracy checked him over, frowned and checked him over again. Harry was getting worried when she went for a third round of checks.

"Just give it to me straight." Harry voice quavered a little, betraying his panic. "I'm dying aren't i?"

"No. As far as I can tell you are perfectly fine." Tracy sounded confused. "I can't find any illness at all. You're just... not sick. All I can suggest is rest and perhaps getting Hermione's mum to look you over later if you aren't feeling better. If things get worse or you just aren't getting any better we can call in Madam Pomfrey."

"Perhaps this will cheer you up a little." Luna pulled a Quibbler from her bag. "It's the first printed copy of the new issue. It has everything we have on Voldemort in it."

"Excellent." Harry managed to smiled happily. "Thank you for that. Will you and your father be okay with doing that."

"We'll be fine, thanks to you big sis." Luna smiled happily back at him.

"Anytime little sis." Harry winced as his movements exasperated his bodies aches.

"Actually, this is a good time for a bit of a catch up." Hermione said. "Padma, how is your research going?"

Padma blanched slightly. "I was hoping for a little more time before you asked me about it."

"Do you have anything to share?"

"Some, but most of it isn't ready to be of any use just yet." Padma sighed. "Most of the stuff I've found is Ritual Magic. Useful and powerful, but it needs too much prep time to be of much use."

"Tell us more." Hermione settled in to listen attentively.

"There are a number of power boosting Rituals. Nothing evil or permanent but they can provide a real boost for a few hours." Padma explained. "The other ones I've been looking at are, umm, well, sex based Rituals."

Everyone had to lean in to hear the Ravenclaw's last words.

"What?" Hannah exclaimed. "Why? How could they be of use?"

"Well, it's just something I found that I thought we could modify for those of us who chose to stay with Harry as his wives." Padma explained. "The original ritual was intended for a man to control his harem better, but it's not a dark Ritual. I initially disregarded it when I first found it but, when I encountered it again later, it got me thinking. I wondered if we could modify it to be more balanced in the relationships.

"I realised the key was that Harry has a female form. This Ritual requires the virginal blood of each of the girls. Normally it's between the Master and each individual harem member but when I looked over the Ritual closely realised it could be changed."

"Changed how?" Daphne asked intently.

"It could have multiple girls linked together. Without a man's seed to act as a master point and using Harry's virginal blood with that of those of us who choose to remain, I believe it could help harmonise our relationships with Harry through the Bond we have and add additional stabilising Bonds between each of the wives to create closed group." Padma answered. "I'm still working on modifying the Ritual when I have time."

"And the other Rituals?" Susan asked. "The Power Boosting ones?"

"They require a Ritual Room for the runic sequences to be laid out and then charged with your own power. You can feed it back into your body when you need it." Padma told her. "The only problem is that it's only a few days delay before the magic charge burns out the runes."

"Sorry, I know I'm still learning about runes and stuff." Harry asked thoughtfully. "But why do the runes burn out?"

"When you draw the runes you normally charge them with magic as they are created. This is a more stable way of doing it." Padma explained to him. "This way all the runes are drawn before they are charged and they are charged in stages over several days. The manner in which they are charged, the amount of magic used and the inconsistent charging destabilises them and the ink gets burnt out easily."

"What if they were carved runes?" Luna proposed.

"That would hold the power much better, for months even, but the Ritual Room could only ever be used for that one Ritual and only for that one person, since the runes need to be tailored to the specific person." Padma replied.

"That's okay, I don't see any real problem with it." Harry shrugged. "It may seem like a waste of space but how many times will we need to perform that ritual? Not having to redraw the runes each times would save some time."

Padma blinked at him. "Well, when you put it like that..."

"Could you tell me a little more about the other Ritual." Hermione asked. "I just want to know a bit more about the timing."

"The potion isn't a problem, I don't think. Most of this is still conjecture at this point." Padma looked a little disappointed that she couldn't give more detail. "It's the blood that's the problem. It would have to be collected and placed in the potion and then the potion drunk in relatively short order. A couple of hours maximum. More likely less."

Hermione pondered. "That could prove to be a logistical problem for a number of reasons. Not least of which that we would probably all be in the same bed, at the same time, to collect our virginal blood.."

"There were a number of reasons why I wasn't ready to say anything." Padma admitted. "While I will not shy away from sex with my husband, I wanted something more romantic than a group sex session for my first time."

Harry turned bright red at that.

"That would put a damper on things." Hermione admitted with a sigh. "But, does it have to be actual sex, or do we just need Harry to break our hymen and collect the blood?"

Padma blinked and pondered the question. "You're referring to sex toys aren't you? That may actually work. We would've needed something like that anyway for Harry. We would've had to figure out who would collect Harry's blood too."

"Do I really have to bleed?" Harry protested. "Do any of you?"

"Bleeding the first time you have actual sex is just one of those things for girls, Harry." Daphne explained. "Why? Who knows; but that blood is special and should only be shared with your special someone."

"Not all non-magical girls bleed the first time." Hermione added. "But in the olden days it was used as proof that a girl was a virgin. In reality it was mostly them just not being gentle. It can be a source of power in witches, but you have to be careful it isn't abused."

"Sounds dangerous." Harry grimaced.

"You just have to be careful." Susan shrugged.

"Is there anything else we need to think about?" Tracy asked.

"There is the offer from the British Secret Service." Hermione remembered.

"What's the deal with that?" Daphne asked looking a little confused. "I know they're muggles, sorry, non-magical. Can they provide any help? if so, then why not get their help? They sound like they are the equivalent to Auror's."

"If any non-magical people can help it would be them." Hermione explained. "They're sort of a secret police force that deals with hidden threats. The problem is that Granddad warned me that if we get involved with them then we may end up in a situation we don't want."

"How do you mean?" Daphne wanted clarification.

"They may pressure us to do additional things for them." Hermione looked down. "They would phrase it in a way that would make us want to help them. We could be trapped in to constantly fighting for years and I don't really want that."

"So they could help, but it could come back and bite us in the butts." Daphne nodded before slumping. "Great, why can't more people be like Harry and just help because it's the right thing."

"He is pretty special like that." Ginny smiled happily at the wizard.

"So, what do we do?" Hannah asked.

"We're between a rock and a hard place, aren't we." Tracy stated. "We need help so we can't turn an offer like this down. We just have to be careful that it doesn't 'bite us in the butts'."

They all exchanged grim looks.

"Well," Luna broke the darkening mood, "with magic we can just disappear. Perhaps Harry can find a nice island to hide and we can live there where we can't be found."

"A tropical island?" Daphne's eyes lit up. "Somewhere that's always warm. I can't stand Hogwarts in winter, it's always so cold and drafty."

Harry pondered. "I thought you liked the cold but, you know, that doesn't sound too bad. I mean, I want to travel and do lots of things but, having a place like that to start out trips on and to return to would be nice."

"You just want to keep seeing us in our bikini's." Susan playfully poked her tongue out at him momentarily. "Or were you hoping for us to wear less."

Harry blushed at the implications of that causing them all to laugh at him.

"And for the record, I do like the cold. I just like being able to escape it too which is really hard at Hogwarts." Daphne clarified.

Hermione turned serious. "So, we make the call huh?"

"I don't think we have much of an alternative." Tracy shrugged.

"I would like to discuss it with Auntie one last time, if you don't mind." Susan spoke up. "She may have some very good advice for us."

"Do that." Harry nodded appreciatively. "I don't think I'll be up for anything for a couple of days anyway."

"How are you feeling?" Hannah asked.

"Worse actually." Harry surprised them by admitting.

"Oh, Harry." Hermione gently stroked his face.

"I wish I knew what was wrong." Tracy looked a little depressed. "Then I could help. I feel useless, not being about to do anything."

"I'm sorry." Harry unconsciously curled tighter, trying to ease his aching body.

!HPEaSE!

Harry only ate lightly for lunch, having little appetite, and threw it up later that afternoon. Tonks' arrival didn't help the mood of the group when she gave them an update of the happenings of the world.

"Last night was very busy." The Metamorphmagus began. "You-know-who decided to stage a number of raids across the country."

"Was anyone hurt?" Was Harry's immediate question.

"Nope." Tonks assured him. "Those Wards worked a treat. Everyone was out of their home well before any of the Wards could fall and the Auror's responded fast enough that they didn't have enough time to break the Wards either."

"How many did you get?" Susan asked.

Tonks' face dropped dramatically. "That's the bad news. Three. Two youngsters and a foreign wizard. None of them knew anything. They were given a series of locations to attack and told to leave as soon as the Auror's arrived."

"That's not good at all." Daphne said grimly. "That sounds like He's plotting something."

"Do you think those raids were to test Auror response times?" Hermione asked.

"Or the Wards themselves." Padma offered.

"Or worse." Tracy was thinking hard.

"Like testing and studying the entire Ward and evacuation system itself?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, but I think you may be on the right track." Tracy and Daphne exchanged a long look and began a fractured conversation.

"If they...", "Yeah, but...", "We'd have to check if it's possible.", "Normally...", "Yeah, but goblin work aside...", "You-know-who, yeah.", "Could we...", "I suppose, well not us...", "I know, they'd need to...", "We can only ask...", "Well, get Harry to ask..."

"No wonder I have so much trouble keeping ahead of you two in our test scores." Hermione watched the two in awe. "It's like I'm fighting one super person instead of two normal ones."

"It reminds me a little too much of the twins." Ginny added.

Tracy and Daphne blushed a little. "We've been friends for so long it's just how we work together."

"It's impressive." Harry complemented them. "What did you come up with?"

"Tonks, are the Auror's notified by the escaping people or are there triggers Wards themselves?" Tracy asked.

"By the people." Tonks answered.

"If you-know-who manages to intercept the Portkeys then he can hurt everyone without you knowing." Daphne explained to everyone.

"Hermione, tell me why we never had a Slytherin in our group of friends, it would've made things so much easier." Harry said.

Hermione half smiled. "Because Malfoy was a huge git, most of the other Slytherins were unpleasant to us and Ron would've blown whatever brain cells he had if we even suggested it. And you did pretty well for that sort of thing."

Harry grimaced but nodded. "Okay. Tonks, can you go to Gringotts and ask if they can monitor the Wards they created? You might want one of them to check the prisoners you got for anything that might detect the Ward or Portkey activity. Their reputation is on the line with the Ministries."

"It could also be getting response times, for an ambush." Ginny said suddenly.

"Good one Ginny." Daphne praised her training partner. "That should also be considered."

"Then so could it being a distraction to hit another target." Susan suggested.

"See," Tonks smiled proudly, "this is why I love working with you guys, besides the fun, excitement and skimpy bikini's. Minister Bones and Shack guessed that they were missing something but not what. You lot have figured situation and are planning countermeasures in only minutes. Well, I'd best be off, I have work to do."

"Can you tell Auntie that I need to see her on an important matter, please." Susan asked.

"Sure." Tonks nodded. "Harry, will you be okay for training tomorrow?"

"Probably not." Tracy answered for him. "So don't expect him to participate. Everyone else will be there though and he should be able to watch."

Tonks nodded. "Okay, get well soon Harry. Catch you all later."

When the door had shut behind the Auror, Hannah smile to everyone. "I think that went well, we considered a situation from multiple angles and found several potential issues. I'm just a little miffed I didn't come up with anything to add."

"Relax." Hermione rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. "Neither did I. We're better suited to theoretical work not combat. We contribute in other ways."

"Yes. If we get that power boosting Ritual to work then it will be a huge help when we go on raids and for the final battle if we can control the timing of the confrontation." Daphne added her own reassurance.

"Thanks." Hannah smiled, cheered up again.

!HPEaSE!

When Emily arrived home not long after she looked Harry over but could only add to the confusion. Emily had developed a respect for magic and with Tracy unable to find anything wrong, she had no other options to offer other than it might just be a bug. He didn't have a fever, nor was there blood in his vomit.

Harry spent the rest of the day in bed, something that was commented on by Amelia when she arrived.

"Seeing visitors in bed now, Harry? Like a King, or Queen." Amelia grinned as she perch on the foot of the bed after hugging her niece.

"Oh very funny." Harry growled from where he was bundled in blankets.

"Yes, I thought so too." Amelia wasn't fazed by the wizards anger. "To business. The Gringotts Curse Breaker detected some unusual trace magic on the Death Eaters we captured which could've some form of detection magic. They are adding an additional layer of monitoring to their Wards just in case, so well caught, all of you. We figured out the ambush and diversion scenarios but not that one so I'm impressed."

"Thanks, that was Daphne and Tracy hashing things out off Padma's thought.." Susan praised the two Slytherins.

"Hey, you had your own ideas to add." Daphne replied. "And Ginny too."

"It's all of you working together as a group." Amelia said. "It brings out each other's strengths. Now, Susan, you wanted to see me?"

"Well, all of us really." Susan replied. "We wanted to know if you had any new thoughts on contacting the British Secret Service?"

"Not really." Amelia admitted. "I found out that according to the guidelines for interaction between the Magical and Non-magical Ministries they cannot contact anyone outside of the official lines of communication. Given that in the past these were pathetic at best I'm not surprised they're looking at ways of bypassing them. I imagine they have managed to contact and recruit a few Squibs as they aren't covered.

"As for actually contacting them... it may be for the best, even with all the personal risks involved. I know what you need to do and last night showed that I don't have enough manpower to handle my actual job, let alone assist you. I'm hoping to change that soon but it may not be soon enough to help you."

"You paint a grim picture." Hermione's expression matched her words.

"To make matters worse, I can't provide more help to you than I have. Kingsley, Tonks, Jones and possibly Moody are the only ones who are familiar enough with you to actually work with you let alone have the needed skills. None of the new recruits can come close and I can't spare any more experience Aurors. It may very well be that the best source of help for you will come from the muggle Government."

"So we do it then, as soon as Harry's well enough to meet them." Susan sighed.

"Yes. I will authorise it for the purposes of dealing with You-know-who only." Amelia told them. "That should provide you some additional cover. I'll assign Tonks to you on a more permanent basis so she can act as the Ministry representative, when neither I nor Kingsley can make it."

"Understood." The girls nodded.

"Good luck to you all." Amelia stood with a sad expression. "I'm so sorry that this has fallen on your shoulders. I really do wish I could spare you all this burden. That having been said, I can think of no one I would trust more with this task than all of you."

Amelia said her goodbyes and left, but her words had made quite the impression.

!HPEaSE!

Harry hadn't gotten any better by evening, though he had stopped getting worse. Everyone was concerned enough that they decided to stay the night to be close to him in case anything went wrong. Tracy was still stumped and told them that if he hadn't improved by morning then she would be getting Madam Pomfrey.

Harry barely ate anything for dinner and still found it difficult to move. Everyone changed into their sleep wear and bundled up with their blankets and pillows on the spacious bed, except Hermione who slipped in under the sheet next to him. When the light were turned off and everyone had settled down to sleep she quietly pushed her night dress down and drew Harry's head to her bare breasts.

"I did promised you could, I just wanted it to be romantic instead of comforting." Hermione whispered in his ear.

"Thanks." Harry whispered back. "It's a little embarrassing to cuddle up to you like this with everyone here but it does make me feel a little better."

"I'm glad to help." Hermione kissed the top of his head. "I really hope you feel better in the morning.

"Me too." Harry snuggled into her soft warmth.

!HPEaSE!

Harry wasn't better in the morning, but everyone had stopped worrying so much.

When Harry woke Hermione was still asleep. Their legs were tangled together and felt all hot and sticky. Harry shifted to get a little room between them and cool off a bit and felt a trickle of sweat run across his thigh. He slipped his hand out from between Hermione's hand and her breast and reached down to wipe it.

Placing his hand back on her chest, just below her breasts he got a glimpse of something bright red on his hand before Hermione caught it and pulled it back up to her breast. Harry blinked as he processed what he had seen and suddenly bolted upright with a shout as he realised it was blood.

"Uh, too early." A voice protested as his shout woke everyone.

Hermione blinked and focused on Harry's hand. "Blood? Are you alright?"

She tossed the sheets back to find the source and found both of their lower bodies coated with blood and the sheets under them with a spreading red stain.

Hermione blinked in shock and pulled up her night dress to see if it was her. Not finding a source she began checking Harry over and found it when she pulled his underwear down. Harry was too scared to even protest the unexpected exposure as Hermione suddenly relaxed and righted his clothing.

"That scared me for a moment." Hermione sighed in relief. "Go to the bathroom Harry. I'll be there in a second."

"What is it?" Harry pushed.

"Your first period." Hermione answered. "Go on. You know how to put a tampon in right?"

"Uh." Harry struggled to think.

"Go on. I'll be there to help soon." Hermione gave him a gently push.

"What's going on?" Daphne asked as she watched Harry flee to the bathroom with bloodstains on his legs and clothes.

"Harry just started his period and is freaking out a little." Hermione explained. "I'd better go clean up too and give him a hand. Can you get us a change of clothes and get Winky to change the sheets. A hot water bottle would be good too."

There was a thump as Tracy slapped herself. "Dammit. I only checked for things that were wrong. I completely missed that. Stupid of me."

"Don't worry so much." Daphne rubbed her friend's shoulder. "Just remember for next time. Can you get Winky? I'll get something for Harry. Ginny, you can get something for Hermione please?"

Ginny, having dug herself out from under the sheets Hermione had thrown back, nodded and headed for the door while Daphne headed for the wardrobe and Tracy called for Winky and helped the others clear their own blankets and pillows from the bed.

"So, Harry's a woman now." Susan sighed. "He's going to take that hard. We'll need to cheer him up."

"He's going to feel humiliated too." Hannah added softly. "Making as mess like that in front of everyone."

"That's just one of those things." Susan shrugged. "I'm sure we all have an embarrassing story or two to share."

Hannah shuddered a little and nodded reluctantly.

"Oh?" Daphne caught Hannah's reaction.

"She had a particularly rough experience." Susan defended her friend.

Daphne nodded and let the subject drop.

!HPEaSE!

Harry was standing in the bathroom looking panicked and a little lost when Hermione caught up to him.

"Didn't Mum tell you what to do?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah. I just can't remember." Harry admitted.

"I know Mum gave you a few tampons, go get them." Hermione instructed. "It's just a matter of unwrapping one and sticking it up there. You might want to clean yourself up a little first and shower afterwards."

Harry nodded and pulled the small box out of the cupboard. Taking one of the tampons, he disappeared behind the screen to the toilet.

"Uh, how do I umm...?" Harry's embarrassed voice floated out.

"Honestly Harry." Hermione rolled her eyes. "Just use your finger and push it up. Make sure it's nice and deep so it doesn't fall out but leave the string out so you can pull it out later."

It was a few minutes before the toilet flushed and a bright red Harry appeared carrying the shorts he had been sleeping in protectively before his waist. "I'm really sorry about..." Harry glanced towards her waist.

Hermione looked down at her blood covered night dress and shrugged before simply stripping it off and opening the shower door to turn it on. "I'm not bothered by that all that much; I've made a mess of myself a couple of times. Go wash your hands and let's get cleaned up. I'll give your back a nice rub to help you feel better."

"Thanks." Harry followed her instructions. "It's just you were being a little short with me."

"Sorry." Hermione apologised sincerely. "It's just that you are going to have to be able to handle this one on your own. You're going to have to change it in a few hours. You can't ever leave it in longer than eight hours and on your heaviest days you may need to change it after a couple of hours. Four is normally how long you should wait but always change it sooner if you need to."

Harry nodded. "That often? I didn't realise. Um, what happens if the string breaks?"

"Then use your fingers to go in after it." Hermione slid her panties down and drew him into the shower with her. "It's your body, you are allowed to if you need to."

"Go in after it? Just like that?" Harry looked shocked.

"No different to wiping your butt really." Hermione shocked him even more with the comparison. "It's not the sort of thing you can normally ask another girl to help with."

"Oh. Right." Harry nodded, uncertain.

Hermione saw that and relented. "I'm not abandoning you. It's just that there's a big difference between sliding my fingers inside you to get you off and fishing around for some lost object."

"Does it happen often?" Harry gulped.

"Very rarely." Hermione told him. "And you can normally go in and get it. If you can't? Well, let's just say I'm glad Madam Pomfrey is a woman."

"I'm not sure I could do that." Harry squeaked.

"I'm not abandoning you. If you need help then ask. I'm sure Tracy will know what to do too. It's just, I don't really want to have to stick my hand inside you to get something unless I put it there in the first place so if you ask you had better have two broken hands or have been trying to get it yourself for at least half an hour with no success."

Harry blushed at the idea of her putting something inside him but nodded. "That's reasonable. Thank you. I've been relying on you too much, haven't I?"

"I don't know." Hermione shrugged. "That has been hard on you so you've needed lots of help. I'm just glad you're asking me for a change instead of struggling alone. You just can't assume I'll always be there though. I'll try to be and I want to be but, you know better than anyone that things don't always go according to plan. But, just for the record, if you need a tampon, just ask. That's perfectly acceptable."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Thanks. I'll try to find the right balance."

"Good. Now turn round and I'll wash your back." Hermione smiled at him seductively. "And maybe a little more if you want."

!HPEaSE!

With Ginny getting Winky to put their clothing in the bathroom for them, Harry and Hermione emerged dressed and looking much more presentable than they had entered the bathroom.

Harry was still a little embarrassed after creating a mess in the bed and his talk with Hermione but he was feeling a little better now that he knew that he wasn't actually sick. Daphne surprised him by pulling him onto the bed and sitting behind him. There was a slight slosh of liquid and then a touch on each side of his neck.

"I know this scent is a bit too girly for you but I've always found it helped me relax." Daphne explained as the soft flowery scent reached Harry's nose. "Never be afraid of doing a little extra to spruce yourself up at these times."

"Thank you. It is girly but it does smell nice. I think I'd like it better on you though." Harry replied.

Daphne chuckled as she began attacking his hair.

Tracy pulled her wand and checked him over fully. "You're okay. I think this might be a good sign. Your hormones levels have been unstable since you changed but they are showing signs of settling. Just a word of advice, don't try and use a male Animagus form while your bleeding. I really think it will back fire on you. As long as you base form is female I believe you will still be subject to having periods and you won't be able to escape that."

"Okay." Harry slumped. "So, how long do you think I'll have to deal with this for?"

"Once every four weeks for the next few decades." Tracy stated. "Just like us. I'll teach you a couple of spells to help with the symptoms but for now..."

A few wand movements later and Harry sighed happily as most of the aches receded. "Thanks. I feel almost normal again. Is there anything else I should know or be aware of?"

"I don't think so." Hermione answered. "You might want to take it easy as your first few are the worst but you can do everything you can normally do. My last one finished a couple of weeks ago, did you notice me slowing down at all?"

"No. I never knew you had one, but then I never have." Harry replied.

"You get used it and get on with things." Hermione shrugged. "It does get easier."

"Look on the bright side." Hannah spoke up. "It could've been worse. I started in first year, in Potions. Snape wouldn't let me go to the bathroom either."

"That bastard." Daphne looked appalled. "That must've been humiliating."

"It would've been if I had been found out." Hannah admitted. "I made sure I was the last to leave and had my bag covering me. Susan covered me from behind and ran back to the dorms to get me a change of clothes while I was in the bathroom. We were late to DADA though and Quirrell docked us points. Professor Sprout gave them back once we explained it to her though."

"At least you have a female Head of House." Padma sighed. "I had to tell Professor Flickwick why I was late to his class. He was really good about it though."

"I'm glad I never had to have that conversation with Snape." Tracy shuddered.

Daphne agreed. "Yeah, we have to be doublely careful in our dorms not to make a mess. Pansy would latch onto any little thing like that and try to embarrass us in front of the rest of the House. I did end up in your position at home with my little sister though, she used to bunk with me sometimes when she was a little younger."

"What do witches normally use?" Harry asked out of curiosity. "I can't imagine Pansy going to a normal shop for tampons."

"We have these big bulky pads that vanish the blood." Tracy explained. "We only started using tampons this summer when we asked Hermione about handling our periods with our swimwear."

"A lot of the girls Gryffindor got together and have a girl with non-magical parents owl a care package including them to us."

"That's why you get the odd package you don't open immediately and yell at Ron when he pushes you on it." Harry nodded in realisation.

Hermione nodded in reply.

"We do that in Hufflepuff too." Susan added. "I think it's just Slytherin that don't. It's good for the girls who don't mind changing and like having something much more discrete."

"I guess I'll need to get added to that group." Harry sighed. "Unless, do you think I could avoid this if I changed to my male form?"

"Don't ever try that!" Tracy snapped. "As long as your default form is female, if you try changing to avoid it I don't know what will happen; but I doubt it will be pleasant. I would guess that it would be incredibly painful to try and if you manage it you would probably open yourself up to a huge range of infections. You have to let your body expel the blood."

"Okay." Harry groaned. "That will make my return to Hogwarts oh so fun then."

Hermione blinked. "Oh no. We'll be going back about the same time as you next period. That's going to be awful for you."

"Yup. Just the worse timing possible. I'll have to deal with Dumbledore, Snape and the rest of the school while being as uncomfortable as possible." Harry buried his face in the covers.

!HPEaSE!

No one got any more sleep. Winky, being over efficient, had managed to sneak everyone's sheets away when they weren't looking and Harry had his training. John had come over to see how he was doing and was shocked to learn of his student's predicament. Harry only had light training so as not to aggravate his body.

The same happened during their magical training. Tonks had laughed when her learned about the cause of Harry's illness. Harry had proven that while he made not be fully able, he hadn't lost any magical ability by laying Tonks out flat from where he sat.

Harry spent the rest of the session learning new spells while the others were drilled gruellingly.

It wasn't until mid afternoon that Harry felt up to making a very important phone call.

They had debated on where to make the call from but Philip's commented that even if they didn't know where he was right now, they probably would soon enough.

"Hello, how may I help you?" The phone was answered almost immediately by a professional sounding woman.

"Uh, hello? My name is Harry Potter." Harry began.

"Certainly, one moment please." The phone started playing hold music for a few seconds then the person returned. "Transferring you now."

The phone rang once before it was answered by a man. "Mr Potter, or is it Ms Potter. I was expecting your call a little sooner than this."

"Depends of which day of the week it is but I prefer Mister. You obviously know who I am so who am I talking to?" Harry's brow creased slightly in annoyance.

"I am the Director of MI5. I, and my MI6 counterpart, would like to meet you to offer our assistance in the 'altercation' you are currently involved in."

"'Altercation'?" Harry wasn't amused. "That's an interesting way of describing the situation."

"I'm sure you have lots of words you would like to use." The man chuckled. "This is best discussed in person, when would you be available?"

"I think I can squeeze you into my schedule... Tuesday afternoon." Harry replied.

"Excellent. I will make the arrangements for someone to provide you an escort. I assume you will not be coming alone, but try not to bring too many people. My office can only hold so many comfortably."

"Okay." Harry nodded out of reflex. "I'll see you then."

"Indeed. Good-day, Mr Potter." The man hung up.

The others had been listening in thanks to a little charm.

"Interesting." Susan commented.

"He revealed a bit, but very little." Daphne noted looking a little impressed.

"You won't get his name." Philip told them. "Standard procedure. You might get his code name though."

"So, who will be going with me?" Harry asked.

"Hermione, Philip and Tonks at the very least." Daphne said thoughtfully. "I think you should add either me and Ginny or Susan and Luna."

"I think Ginny and Daphne." Hermione put her own thoughts into the mix. "I think they would bring more than Susan and Luna."

"I agree." Susan sighed. "And they're better in a fight than me and Luna too."

Luna looked sad but nodded her agreement.

"I wonder who they will send as a guide?" Tracy pondered.

"I guess we find out next week." Padma shrugged. "I think right now we work on some charms so that the rest of us can at least monitor the meeting."

"There's the mirrors my Dad and his friends used to talk." Harry remembered. "I've got the one Sirius gave me, though it's broken. The other should be in Grimmauld Place."

"You could get Kreacher to get it for us." Hermione suggested. "We can study them and figure out how to replicate them."

Harry nodded and headed to his room for his broken mirror, calling for Kreacher along the way.

!HPEaSE!

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Ann stood at attention in the office of the Chief of her station.

"Officer Anderson. Yes I did." The aging man studied her. "You have been requested for a special assignment."

"Sir?" Ann blinked in shock. "Uh. Thank you sir. I'll do my best not to let you down."

"This wasn't my idea." His gaze was approaching a glare. "I think you are far too junior for this. The request came directly from MI5."

Ann froze, dreading the question that was too follow.

"Relax, Officer" He sighed. "Even if you knew the reason I know enough that you would not be able to tell me."

He reached for a sealed envelope on his desk and handed it over and placed his metal trash can on his desk. "I will be going now. Your instructions are in there and you are not to open it while I am in here. I imagine you're to destroy pretty much everything in there when you're done reading."

He stood and headed for the door. "Just don't burn my office down while you're at it." He added, tossing a lighter in her lap before leaving the office and standing, back to the door, outside it to ensure her privacy.

Ann stared at the official markings on the envelope, then broke the seal. The contents were a bit of a letdown. There was a letter explaining the initial part of her assignment, to escort THE person of interest to the provided location. The emphasis on the word 'the' made it clear who was being mentioned. The address was on another neatly printed card with no other markings.

Ann took a deep breath before replacing the letter in the envelope and setting it alight. She made sure the fire had taken hold before she dropped it in the bin and watched it burn. With her back to the door she took a final look at the card and tucked inside her bra, hoping it would be a less obvious location if something unforeseen happened.

She waited until the fire was nearly burnt out before opening the door. The Chief came back in.

"Well, good luck. I don't imagine you will be here often so be careful." The Chief gave her a salute. "Now get out of here. I have schedules to adjust to cover your absence."

"Yes sir." Ann returned the salute and left. She should've seen this coming, see guessed.

!HPEaSE!

"Hi, Ann." Harry greeted her as he entered the lounge. "What can I do for you?"

She had been greeted by one of the Granger Grandparents when she had arrived and taken to the lounge while the wizard and witches were told of her arrival.

"Well, you could've warned me you were making the call to the Secret Service." Ann replied. "That way I would had some warning when they pulled me in as your escort."

Harry gave her a wiry smile. "Sorry, I didn't know you would get involved. I'm guessing that you have the address we're going to for the meeting."

Ann nodded and pulled the card out of her top. "I got it this morning. When is the meeting?"

"This afternoon." Harry told her. "Tonks will be here about lunch time with a Ministry car to take us. I guess you'll be joining the group. At least you're a friend."

"Well, thanks." Ann paused. "So, what do we do until then?"

"Relax, as much as possible anyway." Harry clutched his stomach. "My nerves are acting up a little, or it could just be my period annoying me again." He finished in a mutter.

"Period?" Ann only just managed to catch his words. "So your transformation is that complete?"

"Apparently." Harry grumped. "I'm nearing the end of it now but I'm really not looking forward to the next one."

"Try missing one." Ann grinned. "You'll be really glad to see the next one."

Harry pondered that. "Wouldn't that only apply if I'm having sex. With a guy."

"True." Ann admitted.

"Then that isn't going to be a problem." Harry stated. "Because that is never going to happen."

"Still a guy at heart I see." Ann nodded.

"Yup, and that is never going to change." Harry finished. "Come on, I'll take you to see the others. We're all outside. You might want a swimsuit though. Winky can help if you want."

"Please." Ann nodded. "I might as well get what enjoyment I can from this assignment. If what I saw last time is anything to go by, this is going to be rough."

"Yeah, probably." Harry replied sadly.

Harry waited outside while Winky conjured something suitable for Ann to change into before sending the elf on ahead to warn Hermione about having company and leading Ann to the courtyard they normally studied in.

Seeing Hermione hand over a bikini top to Harry as he entered Ann realised just what he was, or rather wasn't, wearing under the light dress.

"Sorry. I'm intruding, aren't I?" Ann apologised.

"Don't worry about it." Daphne waved her apology away. "It's just these two being a little too comfortable."

Hermione gave a good natured huff as she rejoined Daphne and Padma on their project with the mirrors.

"Do you want something to read?" Harry asked as he handed her some sunscreen.

"No. I could use the time to just relax." Ann gave him an appreciative smile.

Harry nodded in return and sat down next to Ginny and returned to working through some Rune exercises with her.

Ann used to opportunity to study the group and relaxed as she applied the cream to her arms. It was a little hard to believe this group of, well, school girls were so important. The increased heat of August was reflected in the reduced size of the girls bikini's. Most of them had progressed to thongs, even Harry had given in to the heat. Padma had relinquished a lot of her modesty too by shifting to a bikini, from the one piece she normally wore.

Tonks showed up before lunch; early enough that she had time to change and dive into the pool and join in the pre-lunch fun. When the two elves had lunch ready, large blanket were spread out on the grass and the group sprawled out to eat. They carefully avoided the topic of the afternoon until they had all finished eating.

"Okay." Harry broke the mood. "It's time. Let's get ready. Ann, there's a room upstairs you can use to shower and dress in."

"Thanks." Ann nodded and followed the group inside.

!HPEaSE!

It was a very different group that was assembled in the living room Ann noted when she entered, now back in her uniform. This was a more serious and sombre group. Almost professional looking as they checked themselves over. There were two obvious groups, a well dressed group and a casually dress group. Ann couldn't spot anything out of the ordinary, but admitted to herself that she had no clue what she was looking for.

The car Tonks had brought was unexpected. A totally plain black limo from the outside, it was incredibly spacious and comfortable on the inside. She sat at the front, just behind the driver's seat so she could provide directions while Philip sat next to her. Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Daphne sat as a group at the rear of the car as they seemed to meditate quietly.

Ann couldn't blame them really. The nervous tension was an almost physical presence. She had been feeling a little guilty for just sitting in the sun like she was on holiday for most of the morning. That stopped now as the weight of the task at hand bore down on them.

Tonks was a good driver and the Ministry car well suited for the trip into London. They reached their destination in short order and pulled into the indicated car park in a quiet parking building. Heading for the door to the stairwell the door opened and a man stepped out to greet them.

"Officer Anderson, good to see you again. You and your party are expected. Please follow me." The man spoke calmly.

Harry, Tonks and the girls relaxed as he didn't seem to be a threat. He led them down a flight of stairs and into the adjacent building. From there they went through a series of doors and corridors until they reached an elevator. It was just big enough for them all to squeeze in and the man swiped a security card before hitting an unlabelled floor button. The lift rose and the doors opened on a relatively normal looking reception area.

The professional looking woman behind the desk got them all to sign in and gave them visitor tags before pointing them to the door next to her. From there they went past several normal looking offices before finding themselves in front of another woman positioned outside an official looking door.

"The Potter party." The man announced to her quietly.

The woman nodded and flicked a button on her intercom. "The Potter party are here sir."

"Send them in." A male voice emerged from the device.

The woman gave them a pleasant smile as she gestured towards the door.

Harry glanced at the man.

"No, I'm not cleared to know anything more." The man replied. "I will be waiting here to escort you out when you're finished, nothing more."

Harry nodded and opened the door. And the one immediately behind it. That one revealed a large office.

"Come in, come in." The voice from the intercom called out. "This meeting has taken long enough to arrange, let's not delay it any longer."

Without the distortion from the intercom Harry recognised the voice. "You're the one I spoke to on the phone."

"Indeed." He waved them in. "Shut the door behind you. Thank you. Now, as I said, I'm, the Head of MI5. This is my MI6 counterpart."

He pointed to an older woman who was standing quietly off to the side, out of site from the other side of the doorway.

"And it seems you both know who I am." Harry gave the woman a nod. "It would be nice to have names to go with the faces."

The woman's stern expression didn't alter. "Unfortunately, we cannot remove memories or vanish in an instant. Our names cannot be revealed for our own security. Your names are already well known in your theatre of operation."

"Fine, we'll call you 'M' and would that make him 'L' or 'N'?" Hermione asked with a slight smile.

"A Bond fan huh?" The man chuckled. "I think 'L' would be best then."

"I can live with 'M'." The woman sighed. "If only to get matters to the business at hand."

"Well, you wanted to see me." Harry prompted. "Why?"

"As I'm sure you are aware, we have some intelligence assets within the Magical World." M began. "The problem is that they are very limited and we cannot approach any person with active magical power."

"So you approached a few squibs." Hermione guessed.

"Correct. We approached the Minister of Magic several times to increase the interactivity between the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and our own people and were ignored several times."

"You might have more luck with the new Minister." Tonks comments. "Minister Bones has appointed me as a Ministry liaison, but our involvement here is limited to dealing with..."

M interrupted. "Yes, the madman you are all too afraid to name. I don't really care what you magical people do to each other, you have your own department to deal with that, but when it starts affecting the non-magical world and compromises the security of the Realm then I have a very big problem."

"Harsh." Daphne commented.

"We are not the police, young lady. We deal with threats on a very different level. Threats that would cost lots of lives. No one knows of our successes, but our failure are very public and cause us to bear the brunt of public criticism and condemnation."

"I can relate to that." Harry admitted.

"So we've heard. We do get copies of the Prophet but we know how distorted that view is. We also started getting the Quibbler, after you started contributing articles." M replied.

Harry grinned. "Then you must have liked the latest issue."

"It was most informative." M gave single nod of acknowledgement. "But most of that is not of our concern. What we're interested in is what you left out."

L took over. "We admit we know very little of magic but we know enough to know that you, Harry Potter, are the focal point of this situation. We want this matter resolved as quickly as possible, with a little lost of life as possible."

"We have a common goal there." Harry nodded. "The problem is achieving it."

"We wish to help you with that, but we have no information on how effective our methods and equipment will be in a magical environment." M stated. "What we propose is a special team we have assembled. Their primary assignment will be to provide you assistance in your battle."

"And the their secondary assignment?" Daphne caught the specific phrasing.

The woman actually gave her the barest hint of a smile. "Their secondary tasks will be to develop suitable tactics for a combined magical, non-magical unit and to assist in the development of tools and weapons suitable for combating various magical threats."

"Nasty." Harry commented.

"We take our jobs very seriously, and so our operatives." M stated firmly. "We have to deal with people who can't be held accountable by any laws."

"In Voldemort's case, the laws of nature don't apply." Harry rubbed his forehead tiredly.

"So what's the plan?" Ginny asked, looking between everyone.

"Well, Sergeant Granger's presence makes things a little easier." L replied. "If he can focus on finding out what weapons are effective against magic, we have a small training exercise for Mr Potter to introduce him to the people we have selected to help. Do you already have a team you work with? You'll probably need their assistance."

"We've been training hard." Was all Harry said in reply.

"I will send you the information on the training operation." M said. "It will be a standard briefing packet. It will be up to you and your team to make a 'good' impression on the people we've assigned to work with you. After the mission, we will sort out a joint training area so you can start working out how you will combine your abilities. The training area will also be used to determine what the most effective weaponry is."

Harry nodded.

"I've already put some thought into weapon options. I'll give you a list." Philip told her.

"Good, we will endeavour to deliver the initial shipment after the training exercise." M gave a single nod.

"For the training area..." Philip gave Harry and Hermione a direct look. "It would be more private and convenient for you..."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other.

"It is what we intended it for." Harry sighed.

"I just don't like the loss of privacy." Hermione replied.

"Me neither." Harry agreed.

"Couldn't they buy their own?" Ginny asked.

"It would cost a lot." Harry answered. "I got a good rate because they respected me and he really wanted the chance to do it."

"We have discretionary funds we can use, if it's worth it." M stated as she studied the teens, trying to follow their conversation.

Harry just grinned at her briefly. "So, we use ours temporarily until they get their own then we use theirs."

That got agreement from the girls.

"It sounds like you think have a suitable training area." M's voice lost a little of her usual blunt edge. "I would like to inspect it to see if it's suitable for use before transferring any equipment."

"I think we can arrange that." Harry grinned. "And I'll help you arrange a meeting with the people who made it, if you're interested. And Minster Bones authorises it."

"And if your training area is worth replicating." M added her own caveat.

That got everyone who had seen the World Room laughing.

"When can we expect the training information?" Harry asked, much more relaxed.

"I will have an agent deliver it. Would the Granger's home address be suitable?" M answered.

"How did you know...?" Daphne stared at the older woman.

"You arrival was caught on camera and you gave your names at the front desk. You're images and names were run through our computer. Sergeant Smith and Mr Potter were identified easily. Sergeant Smith has a high security clearance from his military service and Mr Potter was a person of distinct interest and bears a striking resemblance to his mother, at the moment. Miss Granger was identified via her resemblance to her grandfather and his records that indicate a granddaughter, Hermione Granger, of your age." M explained. "It is you and the other two ladies we are unable to identify which would indicate that you live primarily in the Magical World."

Daphne blinked. "I'm impressed how quickly you managed to figure all that out."

"It's what we do." M stated. "Now, if there is nothing else..."

"I think that's all." Harry said after looking at the others. "See you Thursday, I guess."

"Indeed. Good-day Mr Potter." M said, though her glance included everyone else. "Please leave your list of required equipment with the agent outside."

With that dismissal Harry led everyone back out through the double doors. They waited while Philip wrote down what he wanted and then they followed the agent back out of the building to their car.

They remained silent the entire way back to Hermione's home, each pondering the meeting.

They all gathered in the non-magical lounge.

"First of all, did everything come though okay?" Harry asked the stay at home group.

"We need to work on the image and sound quality at a distance but it came through well enough." Susan answered.

"Good. Thoughts? Anybody?" Harry looked around the group.

"It's a little scary how quickly they figured out where we were based." Daphne shuddered a little.

"They didn't." Philip countered. "All they know is that people from this house are involved. They merely implied they know more to keep us off guard. You all did well in not responding to that trick."

"I wasn't called the Ice Queen at school for nothing." Daphne replied mock haughtily. "Controlling my expressions come naturally. It was learning to relax here that was hard."

That got a laugh from everyone.

"I'm not sure I want everyone else working here." Hannah spoke up. "It's been, our sanctuary, sort of. I don't want to lose that."

"I was thinking about that on the way home." Tonks spoke up. "If we create a dedicated Floo connection between here and their base, they will only be able to come here, but won't need to announce their destination. Only outgoing destinations from here will require that. As long as they don't leave the Extension it should hide exactly where it is."

"They have tracking device that could cause us problems." Philip countered. "You will have to make sure they can't send their signals outside the Extension.

"I've done some testing with Granddad and right now the World Room is totally isolated." Hermione answered. "You can send a signal from the Extension to the property outside without too many difficulties but it's strength is greatly reduced if you try to pick it up outside the properties boundary."

So if we can block their transmission from both the Extension and the property then we should be safe." Hermione nodded in understanding. "Harry, do you think you could figure that out or do we need Gringotts for that?"

"I'll take a look." Harry nodded.

"If security is so important to them then Harry could make some money Warding their places." Daphne said thoughtfully. "Having intricate knowledge, and possibly control, of their Wards would give us additional security against them."

Philip laughed. "Oh, I like you. That's brilliant. It could work too as they would want to keep the number of people who know their base's locations to a minimum."

"Think you could work in a safety into all the Wards to vanish on command or something?" Ginny grinned at Harry. "Nothing too nasty, just enough to point out that they betrayed the wrong person."

"Normally I would be against that." Philip stated sternly. "But this involves family, so I'll let it slide. Harry just has to be very good at it. Warding that is."

Hermione nodded. "He is, and getting better. I think he had a shot at a career as a Warding Expert. Much better than his crazy Auror idea."

"Hey, what's wrong with being an Auror?" Tonks protested.

"It's not that there's anything wrong with it," Hermione explained herself, "it's just that after dealing with... Voldemort... we don't think chasing dark wizards is the best career for Harry."

Tonks had to nod. "I suppose that after offing a Dark Lord he would have graduated out of the Auror program."

"That too." Hermione shrugged. "Mostly we just like him in one piece and don't want some low life getting lucky."

"I think I'll be over the whole dark wizard hunting too." Harry admitted. "I think doing Warding and making people safer would be nice. Quidditch would be nice too, if I can make it professionally."

"If?" Daphne snorted. "You'll probably be able put any starting Seeker on the bench by the time you graduate."

"What can we do to prepare for this training exercise?" Tracy changed the subject.

"Not much more than you have been." Philip admitted. "Not until the mission information is delivered. Then you will have to work hard to get ready. Rest for today. We can work on some scenarios and do some initial prep work tomorrow."

"So, who want to swim?" Daphne looked at the other girls. "Sorry, girls only. And Harry."

!HPEaSE!

The mission packet, which arrived the next day, was pretty simple. The target was a small base hidden in a forest. It would be defended by ten to twenty troops. Their mission was to take out the guards and destroy a specific building within the base. The packet included two photo's; one of the base in general and one of the building in question. There was also a map of the mission area with an approximate location of the base. That last page was a directive detailing the nature of the training exercise and dictating limits of reasonable force between the two groups.

"Relatively straight forward." Philip commented as he looked it over. "Normally you would be expected to just destroy the building, they wouldn't force you to worry about finding all the opposition."

"How much info do you think they have will on us?" Harry asked.

"Depends on how they choose make it and who they're testing more." Philip shrugged. "If they're playing fair they'll just tell them that they're going to be under attack. If they're testing us more then they will test them that they will attacked by teenagers, including girls. They may even give them picture of those of us who visited them."

"So we can't count on any element of surprise from being young girls." Ginny pouted.

"That's disappointing." Daphne agreed. "We could've used that angle to get a couple of free shots at them."

"We should visit Fred and George and see what they can offer us to help." Ginny grinned. "That should take them off guard."

"At least the forest works to our advantage." Harry pointed out.

"You think so?" Philip looked at him firmly. "These people will be used to working in such an environment. I don't know what sort of advantage you expect to get."

"Used to fighting people maybe." Harry grinned. "But how about Animagus?"

"Daphne laughed." You're right, all our forms would be right at home. Luna can scout and find everyone then we sneak up on them all and take them out."

"Sorry I don't have my bird form ready yet." Harry apologised to Luna.

Luna smiled. "Don't worry about it. I like feeling useful. I won't let you down."

"I'm not worried about being let down by you, just of you getting caught on your own." Harry replied. "I know you won't let me down if there is any way you can prevent it."

"Do you think we could use brooms though the forest?" Ginny asked.

"Depends on how dense it is." Susan replied. "We'll bring them so we have them as an option. At the very least we could fly over the trees until we get close and finish on foot."

"You'll want camouflage clothing in any case." Philip noted. "I can provide a sample, I'm sure you can magic up something workable."

"When do we attack? What time would be best?" Padma asked.

"Hard to say." Philip pondered. "Not night. If they have night vision goggles then you have no advantage, though they could be easily blinded but you would lose your own night vision. During the day or evening, depending on how the shadows fall. If you arrive early, you will have more time to scout and plan your attack."

"So we have to get everything ready today." Hermione nodded. "Tonks should be able to get us a Ministry car to get us close to the boundary and we finish the trip by whatever means we determine to be best."

Philip nodded approvingly. "Good, you're already planning to adapt to the terrain. That's important. There's an old saying, 'no plan survives contact with the enemy'. Remember that, it's important to remain flexible and not be locked into a specific course of action."

Hermione chuckled. "Harry almost never plans a course of action. He just works it out as he goes."

"That's what I have you for." Harry grinned at her.

Hermione wrinkled her nose at him playfully. "Most of my planning was to keep you out of trouble. We all know how successful that was."

"Given that we're still alive you can't have done too badly." Harry replied.

Hermione stuck her tongue at him briefly while the other girls laughed.

"Don't worry." Daphne managed. "I'm sure we can work something out once we get there and scout out what's happening."

"I'll try and spot them while I'm flying around checking things out." Luna offered.

"Just be very careful." Harry nearly begged.

"Of course I will big sis." Luna promised.

Harry gave her a nod in acknowledgement. "Okay, what we need right now is to equip ourselves properly for tomorrows mission. Philip, any input you can provide would be great. I'll get Tonks to organise a Ministry car for us so getting close to the mission area won't be a problem. Brooms will get us the rest of the way, once we determine our entry point. I think an early night and an early start will be in order."

"What about Ann?" Hermione asked.

"Yes." Harry acknowledged. "Umm. She should probably come, if only to observe like Philip and Tonks. Tonks will need to pass it on to Amelia as well. I'll need to let Kate and John know I won't be at training tomorrow."

"Ah, the fun of balancing your personal life with you secret missions." Philip chuckled. "You'll probably need Ann to visit today so you can sort out her clothing for tomorrow."

"No, we should be okay." Hermione shook her head. "That will only take a minute, once we know what we're doing."

"Okay." Philip nodded. "First is communication, you have to be able to coordinate as a team over long distances. Second..."

Harry and the girls listened intently, soaking up everything they could. Philip had spend many years in the SAS and had ended up a trainer but never had he held so much attention from a group of students. Not only did they soak up everything he said but they, as a group, attacked it from a variety of angles and began adapting it into a magical context. The bizarre marriage aside, this group had a dynamic above and beyond anything he had seen in the military. He was beginning to see exactly why this group would succeed where regular forces, or even Special Forces, would fail.

!HPEaSE!

No one in the group really appreciated the early start and, following Philip's advice to get as much rest as possible, they napped in the car on the way to the mission area. Amelia wouldn't be able to join them immediately but wanted to be informed when they began their assault so she could try and sneak away.

"We're here." Tonks said as she stopped the car. "Wake up you lot."

There were a few groans as everyone woke up and began getting out of the car. After some stretching to free up their muscles they pulled their gear out of the boot and loaded up. Pulling out their brooms they lifted off and headed for the mission area, staying below the tree line to avoid being seen. Philip was doubling with Tonks and Ann with Hannah.

Finding a clearing with good cover inside the edge of the designated zone they landed and set up a camp as Harry put up a few light Wards to keep them from being found. Luna, with a tracking spell applied, transformed and flitted off to begin her reconnaissance.

It took her nearly four hours to return. If it hadn't been for the tracking spell they would've been very worried but the knowledge that she was moving regularly kept them calm. It didn't stop the exhausted girl from being hugged when she landed back in human form.

"Sorry I took so long. I had to stop and rest a few times." Luna panted. "It really takes it out of you."

Hermione and Ginny half carried her into the tent and Harry put some food in front of her.

"Tell us what you can while you eat then rest." Harry instructed.

Luna nodded and waved for the map with one hand as she shovelled food into her mouth with the other.

"The target base is here and there are a few trails, here, here and here." Luna pointed out. "The base has several buildings with the target building separate about here. There's a metal wire fence and a few watch towers too. I managed to find nine people but only managed to get tracking charms on two. From what I overheard they had more people patrolling the area."

"Excellent." Harry praised her.

"I think we can assume that they're all in contact with each other." Daphne mused.

"So they'll know if we take out the ones on patrol." Ginny finished. "But as long as they don't get to say anything when we get them then we keep some advantage."

"Could we create a holding area near here and Portkey them into it?" Padma asked. "It'll keep the ones we capture out of the way and if it's set up right then they can't rescue them either."

Harry nodded. "Good idea. I'll set it up outside the camp's wards then add another set to cover both areas. I can create the Portkeys too."

"The fun bit will be hunting down the ones on patrol, I'm not sure we'd be safe approaching the camp until we've gotten them all." Susan said grimly. "Of course, at that point they'll know we're making our move."

"I'm not sure the approach to the camp would be any different." Tracy voice her opinion. "They already know we're coming today and there are only a few points in the day that would work so we are going to be walking straight into them in some form."

"Would a mix of notice-me-not and disillusionment charms work?" Hermione suggested. "Either on their own might not be enough, given our opponents but both?"

"That should work." Daphne agreed.

"So, I'm thinking we circle the enemy base to track down all the patrols, so we aren't hit from behind by surprise, then we hit the camp." Harry suggesting, thinking hard. "If we can get enough of a view of the camp to Apparate in then we bypass their main defences. Luna could side-along Susan at the very least."

"If we can't all get in then we could cause a distraction while they hit them from behind and create an opening for us to get in." Daphne nodded. "Assuming we can't sneak in. They could provide us a distraction for that."

Harry growled. "Damn, so we all get in, or we distract them while Susan and Luna get them or Susan and Luna distract them while we get them. Which is the best option?"

"I think it would be better if we can wait until we are all in to get them." Ginny said slowly. "Simply because we can support each other better."

"If Luna and Susan provide the distraction at a different location to their arrival point then they can escape and return once we make our attack." Daphne added.

"Mobility is important isn't it?" Padma asked. "With Portkeys, Apparation, brooms and our Animagus forms we can move around better than them, can't we?"

"Yes, we can." Susan agreed. "Especially in the forest."

"It's just using it to our advantage." Ginny added. "I keep thinking we should've visited my brothers shop for some stuff to distract them."

"Could we really sabotage their food?" Padma asked in confusion."

"They do other things than just prank food." Ginny replied.

"So why don't we?" Luna asked.

Pause.

There were a lot of exchanged glances and chagrined expressions.

"Harry, Ginny, do you two want to Apparate back to my place, put a robe over your clothes and visit the twins?" Hermione asked. "You two probably have the best prank knowledge and relationship with the twins of all of us."

Harry nodded. "Daphne and Tonks should come with us. Ginny and Daphne are a team and Tonks is my security detail."

"Right now?" Daphne asked. "We can get a bag or something in Diagon Alley if we get too much to carry."

"Sure." Ginny shrugged.

"Okay then." Harry agreed. "Luna, get some rest and get as much detail down onto our map as possible. If the rest of you feel up to it, try and find their patrol area and see if there are any good approaches to their base. Just be really careful."

"Can you make some Portkeys back here and set up the holding area first?" Susan asked. "If we get caught we need a way to escape, or hold them if we managed to capture them."

Harry nodded. "I'll start immediately."

"Well, you got there eventually." Philip nodded. "You shouldn't have taken so long though, but you are still learning."

Harry gave a nod and left the tent to set up the additional words.

Less than an hour later the four were arriving in Hermione's front yard and entered the house.

Kevin, sitting in the non-magical lounge reading a paper looked at them in shock as they entered. "Over already?"

"Nope, just getting a few extra things." Harry replied. "We are taking advantage of our increased mobility."

Kevin laughed. "Good on you."

A quick trip to their bedrooms later and they were Flooing to Diagon Alley and heading to the twins shop.

"I can't believe how they decorated it." Daphne blinked at the garishly coloured shop. "Do they have any concept of 'overdoing it'?"

"Nope." Ginny replied with a grin. "Come on."

They followed Ginny in. Ginny straight marched up to the counter where Lee Jordan was serving a couple people.

"Lee, are my brothers around?" Ginny demanded getting straight to the point.

"Hi Ginny. They're in back." Lee replied. "Do you want me to get them?"

"Immediately." Ginny stated, then added when he didn't move fast enough. "Come on, we don't have all day."

Lee returned a minute later with one of the twins.

"Fred..." Ginny launched straight into it.

"I'm George."

"Shut it, that doesn't work on me." Ginny fired back. "We need some stuff and fast, including any special stock you keep hidden away."

"Ooh, are you getting a little big for you panties?" Fred teased. "Barging in here and ordering us around."

Ginny glared but Daphne touched her shoulder. "Can I try?"

Ginny nodded sharply.

"So the Slytherin is going to try." Fred grinned. "What cunning ploy are you going to try?"

"It's call the stick and carrot approach." Daphne told him.

"Do I need to start braying like a donkey?" Fred asked.

"You already do." Daphne answered without hesitation. "We are offering you the opportunity to display your products at a completely new level. One that could get you a lot of work with a lot of challenges to your innovative ability."

"Nice carrot, what's that stick?" Fred actually became serious.

Daphne turned to Harry. "How long do you think it would take you to destroy the entire store?"

"If I really try, less than thirty seconds." Harry replied after a moment's thought.

"Nasty piece of work you are." Fred sighed. "Come on back."

"Thank you." Daphne replied sweetly. "You'll get a personal taste if anything happens to me too."

George gulped and nodded quickly. He motioned for them to follow him and led them into a back room. There were several potions tables setup and Fred was working over one of them.

"Get you serious face on Gred." Fred called out. "We got serious business here."

"Then tell them to go away." George fired back. "We started this business so we wouldn't have to be serious."

"Even if it makes you money?" Daphne asked as she looked around. "Nice setup you've got here. Nearly as good as ours."

"Ah, the lovely Daphne." George bowed to her grandiosely. "What can we humble inventors of pranks do for our favourite Slytherin?"

"Nice to know you like me more than Tracy." Daphne gave them a tiny curtsey. "I'll let her know."

"It's the boobs." Fred replied bluntly. "Tracy's better at potions though so there isn't really much in it."

Daphne blinked in shock.

Ginny chuckled slightly. "Well, at least their honest about it."

"Doesn't stop me from wanting to hex them though." Daphne replied. "How do Harry's boobs rate?"

Fred pulled a face. "That's a right nasty question that is."

"Very nasty." George added.

"On one side..." Fred.

"They are a stonking pair on knockers." George.

"But on the other..." Fred.

"We're talking about someone who..." George.

"Fights Dark Lords." "Slays basilisks." "Out flies dragons." "Rescues fair damsels." "Frees the oppressed." "Incites rebellion." "Is a guy." "That last one is kind of disturbing." "Stops a wonderful pair of boobs from being fantasy material." "Real shame really."

The four lost track of who was talking.

Harry tried to take control of the situation. "Whoa. As much as I appreciate you not getting yourselves off thinking about me, there had better not be any pranks to give guys breasts."

"We thought about it." Fred shrugged.

"But we didn't think we could do it safely." George explained.

"Plus, we know better than to piss off our favourite investor." Fred.

"Only investor, but whose counting." George.

"That he could kick our arses without breaking a sweat was also a factor." Fred.

"Kind of a big one really." George.

"At least you two have some sense of self preservation." Ginny laughed.

The red-haired twins shared a bewildered look, pretending to be confused to what she was talking about.

"On a more serious note, what can we do for you?" George asked.

"We need some pranks to create a distraction. A big distraction." Harry explained. "And some extendible ears, and possible some other things. And I'm not talking about your regular stuff. I know you two well enough to know you'll have some special items hidden away."

"Perhaps." Fred was giving nothing away. "But what's in it for us?"

"Aside from the fact that you two owe me, and Ginny can make you lives pure hell and we'll be helping, this is an opportunity for your stuff to be shown at a higher stage." Harry looked at them both. "I know you two love a challenge, this is one of the biggest you could ever get."

That had the twins interest riveted on him.

"You make a good sales pitch." Fred grinned suddenly.

"Didn't even need to show a little cleavage to help you." George added.

"Let's see what we can find." Fred motion for Harry to follow him. "George can help the others get some regular stock. As our investor and partner, you get some special treatment."

"Partner?" Harry looked shocked.

"There was a vote. You lost." Fred replied as he opened another door.

"I didn't give you the money to become your partner." Harry protested.

"We know, and we figured you would vote that way. It was still 2 to 1 against you so, there you go." Fred tossed him a grin.

Harry rolled his eyes at him then stopped suddenly. "You've got a trap door down into the basement here."

Fred spun to stare at the younger wizard open mouthed.

"What, you've warded it, kind of makes it stand out." Harry pointed out.

Fred blink then cursed. "We got Bill to teach us a few things to protect out secrets. Never thought it might make them easier to find. Hang on couple of minutes while I unset the wards."

"A couple of minutes? Move over." Harry pushed Fred aside and pulled his wand.

Less than a minute later Fred saw a ripple as the wards fell. "Damn. Now we have to recast them."

"I'll do it." Harry told him. "As your partner I'd like to protect my investment. Just let me hunt a few things down. At least I can do a proper job."

"Even so, we might get Bill to look things over." Fred replied.

"If you want." Harry shrugged. "I always like his input. You two stick to your pranks and leave Warding to the people who know what they're doing."

"Like you huh?" Fred pulled the trapdoor open. "Well, you're better at it than us at least. We might have some ideas for you though."

"I don't mind, I'm just pretty busy so I don't know when I'll get round to working on them." Harry answered.

Harry followed Fred into the underground room.

"We don't have too much here yet. A couple of enhancements to the Portable Swamp, some fireworks with extra bang, stun bombs." Fred pointed out a few things. "We were hoping the Order would find them useful."

"Mind if I give them a try?" Harry grinned. "They sound fun. They might even get you some extra business."

"It sounds good to me, just make sure you know who you're, who we're dealing with." Fred said seriously. "We don't need this stuff getting to the Death Eaters."

"I'm glad you're thinking about that." Harry replied thankfully.

"We're not stupid, Harry. We know not to make things harder for you." Fred grinned. "You'd kick our arses."

"You'd better believe it." Harry grinned back. "How much is this stuff?"

"We can sort it out later." Fred waved his question away. "We might even wave it if we get enough business from it."

"Send me a bill at the very least." Harry told him as he pulled several items off the shelves. "I don't want you guys to be out of pocket."

"We can look after ourselves." Fred promised. "Come on, let's see what the girls found. Just don't forget to redo the Wards when you can."

Harry nodded as he carefully navigated the stairs, his arms full of things.

Fred followed and shut the trapdoor after them. Back in the lab he dug out a bag to put them in and helped Harry pack them away, explaining how to use them as he went.

With everything sorted they returned to the store to see what the girls were up to. Ginny and Daphne were still browsing but the pile of items on the counter next to Tonks indicated that they had been busy.

"What did you find?" Harry asked.

"Just a few things." Ginny replied absently. "Fireworks, extendable ears, a few other things that should distract them."

"And that Puruvian Darkness powder." Daphne added. "I think we could create an completely blacked out path."

"Wouldn't we be blind too?" Harry asked.

"I never said we would use it." Daphne grinned. "But they wouldn't know that."

"I like it." Harry grinned. "Got everything?"

"I think so." Ginny stood up. "I think the rest of this stuff is useless to us."

"Okay." Harry nodded. "We should get back."

"George, noted everything they've gotten?" Fred called out.

"Yup." George replied.

"Bag it then, we can bill them later, we know Harry's good for it."

"Done. One moment please ladies."

George quickly packed everything into a few bags and handed them over. "Well, good luck in your pranking endeavour."

"Thanks." Harry waved as they took the bags and left. "Catch you later."

"Not too much later." Fred called back.

"Huh?" George looked at his twin.

"Harry broke our wards faster than we can disable them." Fred sighed. "He said he's coming back to do it properly. He noticed them straight away too."

"He's getting good." George commented looking after the departed group. "Maybe we should see if we can get him to do some work for us. He comes with quite the entourage these days."

"Yes, it's a pity Hermione's too straight laced for pranks." Fred sighed. "So much wasted potential."

!HPEaSE!

The return of the four with the prank items sparked a slew of planning. Luna had drawn what she could onto the map and gotten some sleep. But not before passing control of the tracing charms to Tracy. Tracy now had one patrol path plotted with notes on timing and was starting a second.

"It would help if we could get some more tracking charms placed on them." Tracy commented idly as she focused on the tracking charms.

"We'll see what we can do." Harry assured her.

It was getting on to late afternoon before they decided it was time to move and mounted their brooms to cover the majority of the distance to the enemy base. The rest of it would be done on foot, or rather paw. The smaller Animagus forms were carried by the larger as they ran single file towards the military base they were to attack.

A twitter from Luna slowed their pace and they split up. Harry, Ginny and Daphne were to hunt down the patrols and Luna was to do some more scouting. The others were to get into a position to spy on the base to warn everyone if more people left.

Harry shifted from his white tiger form, which he preferred, to Padfoot. He was less practised with his godfathers form and needed to conserve his time in it but had a better sense of smell. He led the two girls to a point where they knew they would intersect the patrol path and began hunting for scents. Finding something he was positive was one of the patrols, there was the smell of oil and metal mixed in with the human scent, he shifted to his white tiger form again to confirm he could still track the scent and trio began their stealthy hunt.

The three great cats moved silently through the trees and bushes, closing in on their prey. It took another twenty minutes to find the two camouflage clad military personal. The trio of transformed magic users stopped and let them get some distance so they could revert back to human form and form a plan.

"Do you think we could get close enough to them to just stun them?" Daphne asked quietly.

"I don't think so." Ginny frowned. "They looked to be very alert. If they notice us between shifting to human and stunning them then it could throw everything off."

"So we need a distraction then." Harry sighed. "I'll let you two get ahead of them and then just jump them in my tiger form. That should give you all the opportunity you two need to stun them."

"Just don't stick around once you jump them." Daphne told him firmly. "They won't treat a tiger the same as a human and we don't want you getting hurt."

"Yeah." Ginny agreed whole heartedly. "Plus, if you vanish you can shift back and help us. When we attack they will respond to us and let you hit them should one of us miss."

"Okay." Harry nodded. "We have a plan then?"

Ginny and Daphne nodded and shifted into their Animagus forms and split up to attack from opposite sides. Harry gave them a few seconds to get ahead before heading straight for the their targets.

Their plan went perfectly. The pair had just radioed in and signed off when they were slammed into the ground as Harry's large tiger form hit them from behind in total silence, his velvety paws hitting them in the shoulder blades, before vanishing back into the undergrowth. The grounded pair, both MI5, could only blink in stunned shock and confusion as they saw the striped white flanks briefly before the rustle of bushes closed behind them. Then everything went dark.

"Nice." Harry grinned as he re-entered the clearing and dropped port-keys on the pair and triggered them causing them both to vanish. Ginny and Daphne literally bounced up to him, both pleased with their success.

"That was fun." Ginny grinned.

"Yeah." Daphne was grinned just as broadly, an unusual sight on the normally calm girl. "Let's do it again."

With that, the three shifted forms again and resumed their hunt.

!HPEaSE!

Hannah caught the approaching scent in a shift in the breeze and shifted from her beagle Animagus form to speak into their makeshift communication system. "They're coming."

"Damn, it's too soon for Harry, Ginny and Daphne to have gotten round too." Hermione's nervousness showed as her language deteriorated. "What do we do?"

"Obviously we have to do this ourselves." Susan frowned. "It's not going to be easy as they're coming straight at us. We need to get one or two of us behind them."

Tracy's voice entered the conversation. "We might need a distraction too."

Luna flitted in and landed next to Hermione before shifting back to her human form.

"I was going to mention the patrol, but you seem to have noticed it already."

"Yeah. We were looking for a plan." Hermione replied.

"I could chase my lost kitty." Luna suggested. "Padma and Tracy could sneak round from behind and Susan could back me and Hermione up. Harry, Ginny and Daphne are too far back to be of any help."

"They won't buy it." Hermione countered. "You're wearing military style clothes. They might be aware of our ages too."

"I know that. I'll take them off." Luna replied. "They don't know me at all and I can look much younger than a teenager that they might be expecting."

"How close are they, Hannah?" Tracy asked.

"A few minutes I think." Hannah sounded scared. "I'm not sure I can move without being noticed. My Animagus form isn't the stealthiest."

"Stay put and don't speak unless you have to." Susan stated. "We'll try to intercept them close to you so you can help stun them if necessary."

Hannah's gulp was audible. "Umm, okay."

"Tracy, Padma, work your way around to get behind them." Susan issued additional orders. "Hermione, Luna set up your distraction."

Susan listened to the acknowledgements as she moved to join Hermione and Luna. They were all nervous and a little scared but there was also resolution and resolve in their voices. Luna had already pulled off her camouflage gear and was in a simple white top and blue shorts. Hermione was running her through some conversation options to help her pull off the act of a little girl as she helped the younger girl pull her hair into a pair of scraggly pony tails. Susan tore up Luna's clothing a little and quickly spelled some dirt and green stains on to the fabric and her skin to help give the illusion of having been running through the trees for ages.

Luna and Hermione shared a hug before Hermione shifted into her Animagus form and heading into the trees. Luna followed moments later.

!HPEaSE!

The two SAS troopers tensed as they heard the rustling branches of someone approaching them. They didn't expect to see a small cat jump out ahead of the rustling and stop and stare at them with feline disdain. The rustling was caused by a small girl who rushed out of the bushes and swept the cat into her arms. She had obviously been chasing the cat for a while given the state of her hair and clothes.

"Bad kitty." The girl scolded. "You know not to run away. Bad Nee-Nee."

"What are you doing here." Trooper Drake snapped at the girl.

"I was playing with my pussy, but she ran off and I had to chase her." The girl replied.

Drake froze and had to fight past her initial words. "How did you get here?"

"Duh, didn't you listen? I was chasing my pussy."

"You have to come with us, you shouldn't be here." Drake reached for her.

"NO!" The girl gave him a swift kick to the shins as he approached. "Mummy told me never to go with strangers. You are a bad man."

Sergeant Meyers actually found himself struggling to keep a straight face as the sight of an SAS Trooper losing to a tiny girl. "Base, this is Meyers. A civilian has strayed into the mission zone."

"Are you sure it's a civilian and not one of our targets?" Can the reply.

"Unless her pussy... cat is packed with explosives, I don't think she's a threat. Except maybe to Drake." Meyers forced himself to ensure his was heard clearly.

"Bring her in." Came the order. "If she isn't a threat then she's in the middle of a secure area. We'll secure her here and figure out what to do once the exercise is over."

"Yes Sir." Meyers acknowledged the order. "Drake, orders are to bring her in."

Drake now had two barked shins. "That's what I'm trying to do, Sir."

Meyers shook his head. "What's your name girl?"

The girls looked at him hesitantly. "Amy. What's yours?"

"I'm Sergeant Meyers. He's Trooper Drake." Meyers spoke gently to try and reassure the girl.

"Sergeant and Trooper are weird names." Luna commented.

"They're ranks, not names." Meyers explained.

"I've never heard of smells called Sergeant or Trooper before." Luna replied. "Are they nice smells?"

Meyers had to blink long and hard to catch up to the sudden bizarre shift in direction of the conversation. "I mean they are military titles. Anyway it's dangerous for you to be here. You need to come with us. If you behave I might be able to find you some pudding to eat."

"Mummy told me not to accept candy from strangers either. I'm supposed to find a police officer." Luna looked around. "Where is the nearest one?"

"We are like police officers." Meyers latched on to a potential solution.

Luna looked them over. "You don't look like police officers. I know what they look like. A really nice one came to my school and told us about dangerous strange men."

"We are a special sort of police officer." Meyers tried. "A sort of secret police, to handle secret crimes."

"Don't all criminals want to keep their crimes secret?" Luna pondered.

Meyers blinked. "True for the most part, but some are much more secret than others. We handle the really secret and dangerous ones."

"I haven't heard about that." Luna stated.

"Of course not, that's how secret they are." Drake growled.

"How do I know you aren't just making that up?" Luna challenged.

Meyers closed his eyes for a minute to regain his composure. "I've tried to be nice but the fact of the matter is that you have wandered into a restricted area. You can behave and come quietly or we can arrest you and put you in a jail cell."

Luna perked up at that. "Will you use handcuffs? Do I get to ride in a police car with the flashing lights and everything?"

"Only if you come quietly, now let's go." Meyers sharply gestured for her to follow him.

"You have to arrest me properly." Luna pouted and stomped her foot.

"Bloody hell." Drake swore turning away.

"You said a 'baad' word." Luna pointed at him. "Naughty boy."

Drake spun back to snarl at the girl but a pair of stunning spell slammed into his back. Meyers spun with impressive reflexes and lifted his gun to return fire but was hit from the other direction.

Hermione shifted back to human form and hit the pair with several spells before hugging Luna. "That was brilliant. You were wonderful."

A tiger bounded into the clearing with a snake round it's neck and reverted to Padma and Tracy.

"Sorry it took so long." Tracy apologised. "We were too busy laughing at you handling to two of them."

"Then there was the mix up of who was targeting who." Susan commented as she joined them from the other direction.

Hannah was to last too arrived and thanked them all. She had felt very scared and alone, trapped where she was until Hermione and Luna had confronted the pair of men.

"Why haven't you sent them to the holding area already?" Tracy asked.

"Because they were going to take a girl and her cat to their base." Hermione said. "That gives us an opportunity to get four of us in under their noses."

Susan nodded "If we time our attack and distractions at the same time then we can wreak havoc before they realise they were fakes."

"That's what I thought." Hermione nodded. "But we have to move quick."

"We have to wait for the others." Tracy stated. "We can do some planning while we wait though."

The others agreed.

Harry, Ginny and Daphne landed in the small clearing a few minutes later.

"So you got these two? Nice." Harry looked over the pair of stunned and bound men. "Why didn't you Portkey them away?"

"Because we got an invite for these two, Luna and her kitty to go up to the base." Susan said. "Interested?"

"How long do we have until they get suspicious?" Daphne asked.

"Not long." Hermione admitted. "But we may have a plan."

"Go on." Harry motioned for her to continue.

"You and Susan disguise yourselves as these two with a glamour and take me and Luna to the main entrance. Ginny and Daphne follow and get ready to attack the two guard towers at that end of the base. We found a pair of binoculars on them so they can get a good look at the watchtowers and Apparate up to them and stun the guards."

"We'll need a distraction." Ginny commented.

Hermione nodded. "Hannah, Padma and Tracy wait until you reach the entrance and use the darkness powder to create a path to the nearest corner. This should get their attention so Ginny and Daphne can attack the towers and Harry, Susan, Luna and myself can take out whoever meets us. The six of us then work through the base to find the rest."

"There will still be the other two tower guards." Daphne commented. "But Ginny and I should be able to get them after the first two. With the tower guards down Padma, Tracy and Hannah will have a clear run to the base and Ginny and I can cover them."

"Luna will need to scout around the base to locate any other guards and help us ambush them." Harry said thoughtfully. "It's risky, but it should work. Just be careful, all of you."

"This coming from the most frequent visitor to the Hospital Wing." Ginny teased.

Harry growled playfully. "Let's go then."

They split up into groups and hurried into position.

!HPEaSE!

Captain Mason of the SAS, and assigned head of the join unit for the exercise was frowning. Drake and Meyers should've been back by now. He relaxed slightly at the pair of camouflaged men appeared out of the trees with a small blonde girl skipping around with them and headed up to the gate.

The girl headed straight up to him. "Hi. I'm Amy and this is my pussy Nee-Nee. Who are you? Are you the one going to arrest me?"

Mason blinked. "I'm Captain Mason. Do I need to arrest you?"

Luna blinked. "I don't know. Isn't that for you to decide. They said I'm not supposed to be here and I doubt criminals get to choose if they are arrested."

"Sorry we took so long, Sir." Meyers saluted tiredly. "She lost her cat again for a minute."

Mason returned the salute. "Rather sloppy of you, Sergeant. Now, Amy wasn't it..."

"And Nee-Nee." Luna interrupted. "If you're a Captain, where is your boat?"

"I'm not a Naval Captain." Mason fought to keep the conversation on track. "And that doesn't matter. Wandering in here is a very serious matter. "

"I didn't wander in her, these two brought me." Luna protested.

"I meant this area." Mason clarified. "Now, you need to learn that you shouldn't just wander around places. We are going to secure you in a room here until we can sort this mess out."

"You're going to lock me in jail?" Luna gasped. "Don't I get a trial first?"

"No, this is where you go to determine if you need a trial." Mason stated.

"So I am under arrest then?" Luna bounced. "Please arrest me properly. Pretty please."

Mason sighed. "Alright."

"Sir, Northwest Tower here." A voice crackled over the radio. "I have some form of smoke grenade being used here. I've black and thicker than any I've seen before. It's being spread leading up to the fence line."

"Damn. All towers stay alert." Mason snapped into his radio. "Response team check it out. Patrols, Towers, report in."

"Response team on route." An new voice responded.

"Southwest Tower, nothing beside the smoke. It's too think to see through though."

"Northeast Tower, clear."

"Southeast Tower, clear."

Mason paused waiting. "Patrol Gamma, report in."

Pause. "Patrol Gamma, respond immediately." Mason gritted his teeth. "Patrol Gamma may have been captured. Towers, any movement."

"Southwest Tower, still nothing."

"Northwest Tow..." The voice cut-off.

"Response team, check Northwest Tower immediately." Mason ordered and looked up at the pair next to him. "Secure the girl immediately."

"Sir." Meyers didn't bother saluting as Mason had already turned away.

Mason managed two steps before his world went dark.

Meyers, Drake and Luna dashed against the nearest building and the glamour's fell revealing Harry and Susan. Luna released Hermione who return to human form.

"How is everyone?" Harry spoke into their makeshift communication system quietly.

"Daphne and I are safe. We're on the roofs." Ginny's voice whispered back.

"We got the tower guards but there are three more here and they're too alert to just jump." Daphne added.

"Luna, find them. We'll follow." Harry ordered. "Tracy, Padma, Hannah, how are you doing?"

"We're okay." Tracy replied. "From what Daphne said, it would be best for us to circle the base and come in the main entrance."

"Okay. We'll try and finish things before you get here." Harry replied.

He glanced around saw the Captain still lying on the ground and threw a Portkey onto his body to send him away. "Hermione, these buildings are raised. Transform and go underneath and cover us from there. Susan follow me, just like we were taught."

Hermione and Luna shifted to their Animagus forms. Hermione vanished under the building and Luna took to the air. Harry and Susan ducked from building corner to building corner as they followed Luna across the camp to where the last three they knew of were.

Luna didn't see anyone else before she found the last three and Ginny and Daphne and perched on another roof top where she could see Harry and Susan and pointed her beak towards their targets.

Here is things got trickier. Ginny and Daphne, keeping as silent and out of sight as possible on the roof top could hear the trio of enemies.

"No response from the others, we must assume they have all been neutralised." The first man stated.

"We're sitting ducks here. Split up?" The second suggested.

"Agreed. Go." The first replied.

The trio split up into three different directions. Ginny managed to track the nearest one to her and threw a portable swamp into his path. The splash and sudden cursing gave her the confidence to roll across the roof and stand enough to see the man floundering and stun him. As he sank into the swamp she tossed a Portkey onto him and watched him vanish before flattening herself back to the roof.

The next man ran straight into Harry and Susan and showed his skill and training as he immediately opened fired. Susan ducked back behind the building next to her but Harry was moving to his next position and was forced to shield himself. He kept moving, drawing the man's fire with him.

"Susan take him." Harry called.

Susan ducked out and shot off a fast stunner. The man's reflexes were enough to avoid it but he had to stop firing giving Harry the opening to send several more stunners at him. Harry managed to clip the man, sending him off balance and Susan nailed him with a full powered stunner, taking him out of the fight.

The last man was a member of Mi6 and headed straight into the nearest building for cover, moving carefully room to room to ensure he wasn't ambushed.

Luna flew a few more sweeps of the camp and saw no other movement than her friends and landed next to Harry. "I can't see anyone else."

"Did we get them all then?" Harry asked.

"No, one went into the building next to the fence." Daphne answered. "He's moving along it. AHH! He seen me. Protego!"

The Slytherin girl's shield blossomed on the rooftop as the sound of shattering glass spoke of the man's attempted to shoot her. Daphne fell back across the roof to duck behind the roof line.

"Ginny, Daphne, cover the far end of the building. Susan Hermione, with me. Luna try to keep an eye on him."

"Right!" The girls answered him, responding confidently to his firm orders.

Ginny and Daphne Apparated to the ground and dashed to the far end of the covering building to watch for their hidden adversary while Harry, Hermione and Susan did the same for the near end, then duck across the junction between buildings to get a more secure angle on the building in question. Luna fluttered along the street and took a sharp and to land on the roof over where she spotted the man.

"Do we wait for him to leave or go in after him?" Susan asked.

"Um, I might have an idea." Hermione said hesitantly. "I'll need Susan's help though."

"I trust you, go for it." Harry gave her a nod. "Should I risk going in after him?"

"With Luna to back you up, maybe." Susan suggested. "But give Hermione a chance first."

"I was thinking the same time might be better." Hermione suggested.

"Just give me the word." Harry gave her a reassuring smile.

Hermione managed a small nervous smile back and she and Susan headed off around the back of the building.

Susan couldn't help grin as she watch Hermione use transfiguration to open up the side of the building carefully and make an entrance close to the nearest end. Susan now had a clear shot through the open door into the hallway running long the middle of the building.

"Ready here." Susan said.

"Okay. I'm going in." Harry took a deep breath and waved for Luna to join him. "Ginny, Daphne, when I reach the door, start blasting the other end of the building to chase him down this way."

"Okay." Ginny's eagerness was obvious in her tone of voice.

It showed in her actions too. She was firing blasting curses at the far end of the building as soon as Harry reached the door and Daphne wasn't far behind her.

"There!" Hermione half shouted as she saw the man reach the doorway they were watching. Susan was already casting but the man dived past out of sight.

Harry was already entering and threw himself across the hallway, turning as he went so his back hit the far wall. He could see the man just coming out of a roll and fired a stunner at him with his wand. His other hand crossed his body and raised a shield.

It was just as well he did. The man spotted him and was firing as he came out of the roll. He tried to twist out of the way of Harry's spell but his movement and the close range made it impossible. Harry did have several of the paint bullets used for training strike his shield though as the man came up into his spell and collapsed, his finger still on the trigger as the gun emptied itself.

The silence once the gun stopped firing seemed unearthly to Harry until the rapid pounding of his heart made itself known.

"He's down." Harry remember to say and fumbled with his pocket for a Portkey. "That was close."

Susan appeared in the doorway she had been watching and dropped a Portkey on the man for him. "Nicely done Harry. Hermione's idea was good too."

"What did she do?" Luna poked her head around the corner next to Harry.

"Transfigured an opening in the side of the building." Susan grinned.

Luna laughed. "That would've been fun."

"Come on, let's take out that building and join up with the others." Harry said, getting his heart rate under control again.

It didn't help that a familiar voice surprised them. "That won't be necessary."

"Auntie?" Susan looked around.

"I'm not there." Amelia sounded amused. "I'm in an observation room watching you."

"Her voice is coming through a speaker system." Hermione explained quietly.

"Regroup and return to your camp. We will join you there." Amelia instructed.

"Okay Auntie." Susan called out. "See you soon."

"Let's go then." Harry gave a single nod. "Tracy, where are you three?"

"At the gate waiting for you." Tracy's voice came back. "You coming here or do we just head back now."

"Go now. See you there." Harry instructed, looking at the girls near him to let them know he was talking to them too.

He watched them all vanish and waited a second before following.

Back at the camp site they didn't have long to wait before Amelia and Kingsley showed up with the Heads of MI5 and MI6.

"You didn't do too badly." M commented. "Though you need more training you did win, which is the main point. Where are the people you captured?"

"Nearby." Harry pointed. "This way."

Harry led everyone to the clearing he had set up the prison wards and began releasing them, starting with the ones that block people from seeing in and out. It was just as well he did. As soon as they became visible to the occupants they opened fire. The physical barriers were still in place and barely rippled under the combined firepower.

"Stand down! That is a direct order!" M barked.

"Ma'am." Keller and Collins, the two MI6 operatives recognised their boss immediately.

"This exercise is over." M stated. "You lost. I'm rather disappointed in you all. I expected you to at least get some of them. Instead not a single one of them was hit."

"Might I enquire who our opponents were?" Captain Mason asked.

M just pointed towards Harry and the girls who were standing next to and behind him.

The twelve men, who had been drawn from the cream of the crop of MI5, MI6 and the SAS, couldn't help but stare at the nine young girls who had defeated them.

"Can I inquire as to their training program?" Mason hoped to salvage at least some pride.

"I'm not sure?" M turned to the group. "Harry?"

"I don't know that we did any special training, not until this summer anyway." Harry shrugged. "I picked up some martial arts and we got special lessons a few times a week."

"Special equipment then? They did some pretty funky stuff." Harry recognised the man as the one he and Susan had fought inside the camp.

M shook her head. "Nope, just their own talents and what they could buy or make I believe."

Harry nodded in confirmation.

"Then what are we missing?" Mason asked. "How did we lose?"

M's serious expression managed to turn even more serious. "What you are about to learn is classified to the highest levels. Only the Her Majesty, the Queen, the Prime Minister, myself and my MI5 counterpart have this knowledge outside of the people and their immediate families involved. Magic is real."

M went on to give a brief over view of magic and the magical world, introducing Amelia and Shacklebolt and convincing the joint special forces team of the existence of magic. A few demonstrations by Tonks and Shacklebolt made it pretty easy.

M paused a moment to redirect the topic to the situation at hand. "This team has be formed to assist the Magical World in dealing with a very dangerous terrorist. You will have two main focuses. Firstly, to directly assist in actions against the terrorist leader and his forces. Secondly, to develop new methods and tools to aid in detecting and fighting magical threats."

"Why do I get the feeling that these girls are directly involved in both of those tasks." Keller commented.

"You would be correct." M answered. "Mr Potter is a focal point for the terrorists activities for several reasons. He and his friends have begun training to fight back and end this threat."

"Children?" Keller asked sceptically.

"Perhaps in your eyes." Amelia answered. "But several of them have already seen live combat and Mr Potter has had experiences any of you would run from. It is not my choice to involve minors, including my own niece, the only family I have left, but there are factors would could only exist by magic that deem this group as the best hope of victory."

"Does this mean our Commanding Officer will be this Mr Potter, wherever he is?" Mason asked formally.

"The nature of the situation and the various groups participating in this specific task make him the best candidate to bring them all together." M replied. "I fully expect him to call on your experiences and for you to support him properly."

"Okay, where is this Mr Potter?" Keller asked.

"That would be me." Harry finally spoke.

The combined special forces stared at the lead girl, a very busty red-head who closed her eyes and suddenly shifted into the form of a dark haired male.

"Don't ask." Harry cut off any questions. "Magic isn't always as wonderful as you might think."

"I think that will be all for the moment." M stated. "Return to you quarters. You will receive you briefings tomorrow on the targets in question."

M turned to Harry. "The first shipment will be ready for pick-up as well. I will see you tomorrow. Oh, and congratulations on your victory."

"Thanks. Bye." Harry and the girls began dismantling the campsite and removing all traces of their presence and packed everything away to return to the car.

Nine tired bodies sank into their seats to return home.


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Chapter 28**

Tonks stepped out of the Floo into the military base used by the special forces unit. Amelia had taken direct control of the Floo connection setup to ensure no one knew of it. Tonks had come straight from the Granger residence and had Dobby and Winky accompanying her.

M was already there and waiting along with the twelve men assigned to work with them. The room also had numerous reinforced cases.

"Morning." Tonks nodded to the MI6 leader.

"Morning Auror Tonks. These cases are the first shipment. How do you suggest we transport them?" M replied.

"Dobby, Winky." Tonks grinned. "If you please."

There were surprised and shocked stares at the two obviously non-human people who immediately began transporting the cases. The two elves worked so fast it just looked like the cases were vanishing in small groups.

"They'll be done pretty quick." Tonks replied. "If you'd like to follow me."

Tonks held out the pot of Floo powder and grabbed a large pinch. Tossing in into the flames she stepped through.

It was a nervous group that mimicked her actions to come tumbling out at the other end into the Entrance Hall of the extension.

Harry, pointedly male and waiting at the other end, laughed at them. "That brings back memories. You'll get the hang of it, eventually."

"A very disorientating way to travel." M commented.

"True." Harry replied. "We would prefer to keep this location private for the time being. I just need to introduce you to Sally and then I will show you the training facilities we have her."

"You mentioned I would be impressed by them." M remembered. "Who is Sally?"

Sally made her own presence know as she responded to Harry unspoken request and approached the group.

"Sally is the skeletal remains of a thousand year old basilisk I killed a few of years ago." Harry explained as the snake drew closer. "Her skeleton was used as the basis for a golem guardian. Sally these people are here to help us. They are to remain here until escorted out. Myself and any of the girls are authorised to escort them."

Sally studied each of them in turn before giving a nod and returning to the shadows.

"Sorry, be we are taking our privacy and security seriously." Harry told them. "If you would please follow me."

He led them out into the extension and pointed out rooms they were permitted to use, the duelling room and the gym. He then led them into the World Room and outside into the room proper.

"Holy..." One of them exclaimed.

"Think you can make use of this?" Harry grinned at them.

"You could run entire battle simulations without anyone being the wiser." Mason gasped as he looked around.

"If it were any bigger you could test fighter-jets in here." Collins added. "If you could get a chopper in here we could practise troop deployments and pickups."

"I notice a variety of entertainment options as well." M struggled to retain her calm and serious demeanour.

"The room is intended to be multi-purpose, both a training and fun environment." Harry explained. "The magic's involved will do a lot of repairs and my elves do the rest but try not to destroy to much at once. It takes a while to recover."

"Why do I get the idea you're talking from experience." Keller commented.

"Why, want a demonstration?" Harry fired back.

"Yes actually." Keller looked him straight in the eye. "If we are to follow you I would like to know you have something special."

Harry glanced at M who didn't seem in the least interested in stopping her subordinate. "Very well."

He looked around and saw where the girls were waiting with Philip and called over to them. "Hey, is anyone in the non-magical area?"

"No." Hermione shouted back. "It's just us. You going to destroy it again?"

"Yup." Harry replied.

He turned to focus in on the area and moved away from the special forces group that was following him. They stared as a wind suddenly picked up and grew stronger and stronger until he appeared to be in the centre of a tornado. Harry 'threw' the violently swirling vortex across the grounds into the muggle area, straight into the tallest of the two multi-story buildings.

The immediately visible damage was all the windows exploding outwards. What wasn't seen from their vantage point was the internal structure damage. The extent of the damage became obvious when the building slowly toppled and collapsed.

Harry felt the drain on his magic but kept his expression unchanged to hide the amount of effort he had put into it. "How's that?"

The special forces team were unsure how to respond to that. Sure, they dealt with weapons and explosives that could do far more damage on a regular basis, but this was a weapon of impressive capability that could not be seen by anyone. He was literally a walking weapon.

"Very impressive." M managed to form a response before giving a significant look to her agents next to her.

The team remembered the orders she had given them prior to their trip here.

!Flashback!

"Thank you for being prompt." M looked over her two agents. "I would like to inform you of a tertiary objective for your mission. "

"Ma'am?" Keller and Collins exchanged a brief glance.

"The Magical World is a hole in our intelligence network." M explained. "While I anticipate increased cooperation with Minister Bones at the helm, there are threats we are simply unable to counter. I am hoping to recruit some witches and wizards to form a combined unit for operation in both Worlds."

"You want to recruit Mr Potter and his girls." Collins guessed.

"They are prime candidates." M admitted. "They have potential, they showed it by defeating you and the others with little formal training. This current situation will be a good test of the viability of such a combined unit."

"So in addition to developing new combat techniques and equipment you want us to evaluate them and find out the best way to approach them for recruitment." Keller surmised.

"Correct." M stated. "I'm fully aware that they may not be willing to become full agents, but any form of cooperation will be advantageous."

"Understood Ma'am." The pair replied.

!End Flashback!

"So what have we got?" Harry asked as he finally reached the others.

"A good range of stuff." Philip replied as he inspected a rifle. "We can begin your firearms training and test your magical shields and wards."

"Good." Harry nodded. "We should get the twins in on this sometime soon too."

"Twins?" M asked.

"My twin brothers." Ginny answered. "They run a joke shop but they are very talented inventors. If we need something inventing, they would be a big help in doing it."

"An unorthodox method of picking assistance." M frowned.

"They are good at what they do and can be trusted." Harry stated firmly. "At least with the important stuff, just watch what you eat around them. They love to prank anyone and everyone."

"I may assign one of our technical people to you then." M's frown deepened at the idea of being pranked. "To assist in developing the new equipment."

"Just remember they need to be authorised to leave the Entrance Hall." Harry warned.

"Of course." M looked around the room. "If you could arrange a meeting for me with the makers of this room and your guardian snake."

Harry nodded. "I'll let you know. It'll probably happen here."

"That is acceptable." M gave a single nod. "I believe I can treat this as a secure location."

"Thanks." Harry grinned. "We've defiantly tried to make it that way."

M stepped back to watch as Philip began directing the witches and wizard to set up some things for testing and gave a lecture on weapon safety.

"He knows what he's talking about." Collins commented quietly.

"He's a former SAS Sergeant." M informed them. "I would not have authorised that weaponry to them otherwise."

"Good to know." Mason replied. "If he's involved in their training then it will make cooperating easier."

It was a little boring for the special forces team to watch some basic training but the magic was interesting as targets were quickly created out of thin air and wards created.

Philip began testing the strength of the wards with increasing heavy weaponry. The simple ward structure survived normal bullets but a grenade from the under-slung launcher managed to collapse it with its shaped charge detonating directly into it.

"That's scary." Daphne said. "I doubt anyone but Harry could withstand that."

"So that's about the level of a standard shield." Philip pondered.

"A protego, yeah." Harry nodded. "I replicated it as closely as possible."

"It's pretty good protection actually." Philip admitted. "It takes a fair bit to break. Can you set it up again? I want to try it under sustained fire."

"I'll set up several." Harry said. "You'll want plenty for your testing. I'll set up several household wards over the next few days. When Bill next gets some time we'll work on heavy wards."

"Bill?" M asked.

"I have six older brothers." Ginny stated. "Each have their own talents. You'll get used to it."

"Excuse me." Mason spoke up. "When are we going to be briefed on the targets and what are your operating parameters?"

"We'll brief you soon." Harry answered. "But what do you mean by 'Operating Parameters'?"

"You all seem to be of school age for starters." Mason said.

"We have to return to school starting in September." Harry admitted.

"And we don't have a choice." Susan added. "Harry, and Hermione and Ginny by association, are very visible figures in our world. It will be noticed if they don't return. We will be limited to evening and weekends in working with you but magic can put us anywhere in England in moments if we know where we're going."

"Understood." Mason nodded. "But that may complicate our training."

"Perhaps, but we have no choice." Harry replied. "We have to be seen at the school."

"It'll be easier too." Daphne commented thoughtfully. "If Vol...Vol...Voldemort," she fought through her fears, "is looking for us there he may miss any actions we take against him away from school."

"From what little Auntie has mentioned to me," Susan added, "her Auror's are stretched to the limit just to protect what they can and the new recruits in training will only ease the pressure. They won't have enough to form any real counter offensive any time soon."

"And until we get all of Voldemort's supporters out of the Wizengamot, our Government, the movements of the Auror's will be too easily tracked."

"While all of us can operate 'off the books'." Mason nodded. "Things are beginning to make more sense. I'm still not sure why kids have to get involved."

"Because magic doesn't always play nice." Harry growled.

"Of everyone who has ever fought against Voldemort directly only two are still are still... alive." Hermione explained. "Harry and the Headmaster of our School, Albus Dumbledore."

"Why isn't he here helping then?" Keller queried.

"Because he's so focused on the 'Greater Good' as he calls it he's lost sight of the real picture." Harry sighed. "He plays things too close to his chest and it's costing people lives."

"Plus we have too many questions about events surrounding him and Harry to trust him fully." Ginny added.

"I think we will need that briefing now." Mason stated.

Harry nodded. "Dobby. Please bring my Pensive."

Dobby, appearing when he was called vanished and reappeared with the large stone bowl. Harry has long since reclaimed the memories inside and now brought out only the key ones of his encounters with Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

"This is a Pensive." Hermione explained. "It allows us to share our memories. Magical people can enter it and experience them fully but we can project it so you can watch them."

They left the Head of MI6 and the dozen members of the special forces/secret agent unit watching the projections and gave Philip their undivided attention as he instructed them on weapon safety and maintenance.

!HPEaSE!

"Dude!" Keller clapped Harry on the back. "You've got some serious balls. Bigger than your tits even."

Harry glared at the MI6 agent. He hadn't actually noticed he had shifted back while listening to Hermione's Grandfather.

"To give credit where it's due, you have done really well up until now." M stated. "With training you will do better next time."

"But, people died because of me." Harry protested.

"No. People died because of Them." M stated firmly, staring Harry down. "You are not responsible for Their actions. You have not sent people to their deaths."

Harry stared at her.

"Part of the job." Keller shrugged. "We know the risks and we know she won't sacrifice us on a whim. We took this job believing that there are things more important than our own lives."

"Just keep that to yourselves." Tracy growled. "He's far too willing to sacrifice himself as it is and we would prefer him to survive."

M gave Tracy a careful look before looking around at the other girls and finished up with her gaze fixed on Harry. "I get the distinct impression that there are some underlying issues there. I don't personally care, but you need to resolve them. Have you had any counselling?"

"Uh." Harry stuttered, flustered.

"No." Hermione sighed. "Too much of it involves, I suppose classified information. We've been helping him as best we can."

"Psychological issues are not uncommon. All agents are evaluated regularly to ensure they are not developing any that would cause them problems." M explained. "They don't like talking about it but it's the reality of their work."

Harry looked away.

"Talk to your girlfriends here." M nearly ordered. "They seem to be smart enough to help."

"They already know everything." Harry snapped.

"Then it will be easier for you to tell them." M replied. "You have to get it out or it will get in the way of your work. I know you don't want it to be the reason for you to lose one of your friends."

Harry's gaze snapped back at her, panicked slightly.

"I'm not saying this to be cruel. I'm saying this to make you realise that if you don't resolve this, you may lose everything." M told him.

"It would've been nicer if you hadn't said this in front of everyone." Harry grumbled.

"You are not a subordinate so I don't have confidentially issues with you, not that have I revealed any personal information." M replied.

"Go ahead." Keller said quietly.

M glanced at him and nodded. "Keller here was stood down for seven weeks to deal with issues that came from a failed mission. He lost three of his team. The only other survivor was never able to return to active service."

"Shit happens kid." Keller told him. "You have to deal with it and move on. Believe me, however hard it is, you'll feel better for it."

Harry looked at them for a long minute before nodding. "Okay."

"Good." M gave a single nod. "Now, that show of yours was very educational. Give us the rest of it."

!HPEaSE!

It was the end of a very long day as the special forces team returned to their barracks. They had learnt a lot about their primary and secondary targets as well as how their equipment interacted with magic.

"Ma'am, do you still think they would make good field agents?" Keller asked when the three MI6 personnel were alone.

"It's hard to say." M replied thoughtfully. "Mostly no. They aren't driven the way I initially thought. If a crisis hits then they will be willing to take action and will make an effective team but they won't make suitable long term field agents.

"I do see a use for them as trainers, analysts and in R & D. Magic does provide some new avenues for dealing with dangerous situations. Portkeys for example will allow agents to escape instead of being captured or committing suicide. Rapid Response units will benefit as well."

"We have to be careful not to lose any of the magical devices they provide us." Collins commented.

"That will be planned for." M replied. "I think I will enjoy working with Mr Potter and his girls."

"They are somewhat unconventional." Keller grinned. "We can handle it though, it's how we have to work most of the time, but I'm worried about the MI5 and SAS guys."

"They will cope or be reassigned." M stated flatly. "I refuse to let this country become the host to a civil war that will claim many innocent lives simply because a few bigots think they are better than everyone else or excessively loud people judge the whole based on the actions of a few."

"Yes Ma'am." Keller and Collins replied formally.

!HPEaSE!

The combined Magical and Non-Magical team would be tested early and hard. Winky woke Harry only a couple of hours after he had gone to sleep.

"Master Harry, there is a goblin here to see you. He says it is very important." Winky told him apologetically.

Harry reluctantly pulled himself awake and freed himself from Hermione's embrace. He pulled a dressing gown across his large bosom and headed downstairs to the Entrance Hall.

"I know you." Harry remembered the first goblin sparring partner The Assessor had brought.

"I am honoured you remember me, Master Warrior Potter." The goblin, Kicbold, bowed. "And I apologise for my inappropriate behaviour towards you before but I have come on a most urgent matter. An army of magical creatures has flooded into our caverns. Our entire forces are tied up in trying to fight them back and your assistance is requested."

"Sure." Harry blinked. "Just me?"

"You may bring any non-Ministry people you wish." Kicbold said. "Gringotts is not ready to involve the Ministry in its affairs just yet."

"There are some Auror's I deal with personally, whose support I would like for a real battle." Harry said seriously.

Kicbold paused. "We will trust your judgement."

Harry nodded. "Dobby! I need Shacklebolt, Jones, Tonks and the special forces unit here ASAP and ready for a fight."

"Yes, Master Harry." Dobby vanished.

Harry ran back upstairs and slammed the doors of the girls bedrooms open forcefully "WAKE UP! ALL OF YOU!"

"Harry." Hannah whined. "I was sleeping."

Harry saw her and the other girls, grumpy and glaring at him for waking them. "Gringotts is under attack and have asked for our assistance. We have to get ready now!"

Those words saw the girls wake fully and turn serious. "Are we fighting Death Eaters?" Tracy asked.

"No, magical creatures. But it's possible that Death Eaters are behind it." Harry replied.

"Right." Tracy nodded.

The girls all dived back into their rooms and changed into the camouflage they wore during their training exercise and headed to the Living Room. Winky had brought the light body armour supplied by M and used her magic to put it on each of them. They were not yet ready to use guns in combat and stuck to their wands. Harry also had Gryffindor's sword slung across his back and they all had their basilisk fang knives.

By the time they reached the Entrance Hall, Philip had arrived wearing his own body armour and checking the weapons he carried as the special forces unit were stepping out of the Floo.

The goblin was a new experience for the non-magical team but they took it in their stride as Kicbold pulled out the rope Portkey he had been supplied with to transport them. They only had to wait another couple of moments, and hadn't finished their final equipment check before Shacklebolt, Jones and Tonks had all arrived.

Quickly briefed on the situation they knew they couldn't go as Ministry Officials but hoped their assistance would bring the two groups close together. They rushed out to the front-yard and activated the Portkey.

Their destination was a forest clearing. Kicbold took a brief moment to orientate himself and pointed out the direction they needed to go. He didn't get to say anything before he was shushed by Mason. Mason used several hand-signs to organise his team and they moved silently through the trees, aided by silencing spells from the girls who were still learning the special forces method of operating.

Harry's guess about Death Eater involvement was proved correct when they heard some voices ahead. There were four of them. They weren't speaking English but wore the black robes and white mask of the Death Eaters. Shacklebolt wanted to capture them but Mason wasn't willing to risk their exposure. Four simultaneous shots later and they were looking over their corpses.

"All foreign." Shacklebolt sighed. "They probably won't have known anything anyway."

"Hide the bodies fast and let's keep moving." Mason stated. "How much further is the entrance to your caverns?"

"Those rocks over there." Kicbold answered. "A Curse Breaker was involved, an exceptionally good one. It's the only way they could have opened the entrance without being detected."

"So, to join your comrades, we have to fight our way through the entire attacking army?" Mason asked.

"It looks that way." Harry sighed. "But we have to help. We can't lose Gringotts and I refuse to let them fight alone."

"This is currently the only way in." Kicbold added. "All the other entrances were locked down after I left as an additional security measure."

"Then let's go." Mason replied. "Move out."

Kicbold led them to the entrance and stopped as it came into view, clear as day. "They managed to break the wards completely. We need to hurry, my people are fighting as we speak."

"Slow down." Mason countered. "We won't do them any good if we rush in and get ourselves killed. We still need to devise combined unit tactics but for now, standard double file formation. Harry and Shacklebolt upfront in the second rank, pick two for the rear and the rest in the middle."

"Why Harry up front?" Kingsley asked.

"Who is the most powerful out of you all?" Mason asked.

"Harry. Fine." Kingsley nodded.

"Done." Mason gave a nod.

"Susan, Luna, are you two okay at the rear?" Harry asked. "Jones too.

"Of course." Susan replied, Luna and Jones nodding in agreement. "We'll keep your backs safe."

"Good. Keep it quiet, don't speak unless you have to. We don't want to attract more attention than we need to." Mason told them.

He put his words into action with a hard hand-sign and the lead pair moved into the tunnel, weapons poised to fire at any target. Harry needed a nudge from the third rank but followed quickly, mouthing an apology. The rest quickly fell into formation.

Harry wasn't sure what he expected from this fight but he knew it wasn't this. They encountered odd creatures as the progressed, which were quickly taken out as soon as it was confirmed they were hostile by Harry. Harry was beginning to pick up on some of the hand-signs being used though. The creatures they were finding were feasting on the corpses of other creatures or on the bodies goblin guards that had fallen trying to hold back the attack.

The magical people were beginning to feel a little unnecessary as the special forces unit was quickly able to dispatch the increasing number of adversaries they encountered. Until they met one of the odder and more powerful ones. One whose hide was magically strong enough to withstand bullets. Harry was the one to drop it in a pool of its own gore with a heavy blasting curse.

"Damn." Meyers, one of the point men, nudged one the creatures massive claws. "That would've nasty if it got too close. Nice work, Potter."

Harry nodded and smiled slightly, trying not to look at the mess he had created.

After that it was all hands on deck as they began passing side tunnels. They cleared them of monsters as much as they could but there were still survivors than came after them and the numbers ahead were increasing.

"My people must be making a stand in one of the caverns ahead. They are open battle fields that will allow more warriors to fight at once. The first is just up ahead." Kicbold told them.

"Okay, prepare to fan out and hold the tunnel entrance. Second rank ready grenades, we should have enough room to use them there. Everyone, fix bayonets." Mason ordered. "Keep it up people, stick to your training."

The first cavern was pretty big. Not huge in comparison to other caverns, but given the reduced stature of the goblins, it would be impressively large. It was also occupied by a lot of creatures feeding on the corpses from the battle fought there. Seeing live prey they all charged.

The military precision of the special forces had them arrayed in three ranks in seconds, two in front firing on the charging for and one in the rear to protect them from the ones behind. Magic played a greater part as Ginny and Tonks on one side and Daphne and Shacklebolt on the other joined Harry in blasting the monsters, their explosions joining the ones from the thrown grenades. Hermione, Padma and Hannah worked together to cast more time consuming spells to slow and disorientate the enemy, buying them time.

It wasn't enough. The sheer numbers made it impossible to kill all of them before they reached them. Harry stepped into the front rank and pulled his sword as the first one closed the gap. He pushed more of his energy through his body and blurred as his sword first sliced the approaching claws free from the creatures body and then sliced the body in half. With his offhand he blew a handful on the left side back and engaged a pair on the right. Meyers next to him spun his rifle to block another attack and quickly sliced the monster open with the large knife they used as a bayonet.

Kicbold stepped out next to Harry, determine to hold his own and allow the non-magical people to resume using their weapons effectively. Harry was feeling a little hampered by being so close to everyone and surged his power to push forwards a few feet.

"Harry, get back in line." Mason ordered.

Harry didn't, instead he focused his power hard and swept his sword in as wide an arc as possible while avoiding his allies behind him and sent a concussion wave to blast all of the incoming monster back.

The monsters, now stunned and tossed around, were once again easy targets for the combined combat team and Harry now had space and time to focus on narrowing the wave of air into as fine a blade as possible. The arc of air, barely visible in good lighting, was impossible to see in the dim lighting of the cavern as it sliced through the majority of the enemy host. The remainder were easily mopped up.

"Sorry, but I couldn't fight properly that close to everyone." Harry, unrepentant, glared at Mason.

Mason gritted his teeth and took a long breath to calm himself. "You don't just break ranks under any circumstances, you put yourself in a position where you could have been shot by us and if something went wrong there would have been no one to support you. That having been said, the formation we used doesn't work with the style of fighting you are best suited for. We'll adjust the formation."

Harry nodded. "Sorry, but if I did nothing it looked like we're about to be overwhelmed."

"It was getting close." Meyers commented. "Thanks Davis."

Tracy had been fretting during the fighting, not permitted to assist. With the fighting mostly over she darted out to heal everyone's wounds, ensuring they were clean and removing all the toxins she could. "You're welcome. You'll need to be seen by someone better than me when this is over but you'll be okay for the moment."

"I'm not going to deny that you probably saved at least one life." Mason admitted, continuing his conversation with Harry. "But we have to work as a team. You're too used to doing this alone, or at least being the one defending everyone else. Here we are a proper team. You have to trust in each other to do their part."

"It doesn't help that he fights very differently to everyone else." Keller commented.

""Go on." Mason gestured.

Keller paused to shoot another monster that showed up. "Swap wands for guns and we fight pretty similarly. Potter, with his sword and special abilities, is a very different factor. Perhaps we can start with the formation we used and then push it out so that Harry has room to move and we can still support him."

Mason considered and nodded. "We'll try that next time. Do a weapon check and let's continue."

Crossing the corpse and gore covered cavern was looking to be a tricky and messy endeavour but Hermione and Padma began shifting the bodies out of their path and Hannah cleared the blood and gore off the floor to ensure proper footing.

Their modified tactics worked pretty well in the second cavern, though they still needed some adjustment, and they would've gotten through without any additional injury if there hadn't been a new type of creature that liked to jump. Several of them were picked off in mid air but they had to jump back to avoid having them land on them. They were fast off the ground too. Only fast reflexes allowed them to block of deflect the slashing claws before they were disembowelled. Harry found his sword trapped and dropped it to pull his basilisk fang knives. A simple slice had the first stumbling back and collapsing, dead, barely a couple of second later.

He sliced the arm of the one next to him that Meyers was holding back and flicked the large knife into the stomach of the one trying to fill the new gap. Summoning his sword back to his free hand he engaged the next one. Meyers saw how effective these knives were and, with his rifle damaged, he dropped it and pulled a heavy pistol. Stooping as he fired, he grabbed the leg of the one with Harry's knife in it and dragged it close to rip out the knife.

"Don't touch the blade." Daphne shouted at him as she noticed the SAS sergeant's actions.

Meyers nodded in back, already bringing the knife to bare on a new target. He'd guessed that some form of poison or toxin was involved given the rapidly fatal nature of minor injuries.

They were all breathing heavily when the non-stop fighting finally came to an end. The special forces unit's training meant they were in good shape but Harry and his girls had not been training for long enough to build up the physical reserves to the level of the Aurors their non-magical teammates.

"You kids are doing well." Mason complemented them. "Let's get into the next tunnel and rest for a minute. Eat, drink, if you can. You need to keep your energy levels up."

"We're also running low on ammo." Drake frowned as he checked his spare clips.

"I've got some spare, my rifle was compromised." Meyers told them.

"I might have an idea." Hermione said. "Can I have a one please?"

Meyers pulled a couple of clips and tossed them to Hermione. Hermione set them down and carefully waved her wand causing the clips to duplicate.

"Try these." Hermione passed the magically created duplicates over to Drake.

Drake inspected the clip, but found nothing out of the ordinary, and slipped it into his rifle and chambered the first round. He held it as far from him as possible and sighted on a distant wall before pulling the trigger. The rifle spat normally and the sound of the bullet hitting the far wall sent echoes down the tunnel.

"Seems to work okay." Drake commented. "The magic won't run out suddenly, will it? I don't need to run out suddenly when I expect to have a full clip."

"It should last more than an hour, possibly two." Hermione frowned slightly. "Sorry, I haven't tried this before so I don't know."

"That should be okay, just don't make too much at once." Mason told her.

"What's the deal with this knife?" Meyers asked as he returned it to Harry. "Is it poisoned?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "These were made from Sally's original teeth."

Meyers snorted. "Just be glad that I doubt anyone will apply the Geneva Convention to these things or you would be in serious trouble."

"What knives are you talking about?" Mason stated pointedly.

Meyers nodded. "Nothing, sir. I was mistaken."

Mason tossed Harry a small grin as he saw the look of confusion on the wizards face. "So we don't have to report it. That's enough lazing about. Move out."

They could hear the sounds of battle as they approached the third cavern. They had obviously caught up to the retreating goblin defensive line. Reaching the end of the tunnel they stared into the back of a sea of monsters, all striving to sink their teeth into goblin flesh. They were fighting over each other, those that could were jumping high above the masses or climbing round the walls. Only their total lack of coordination kept the goblins alive as long as they had.

It was hard to see from their vantage point but the goblins had been pushed back into a semi-circle around the cavern exit and were slowly retreating to allow those too wounded to continue to be evacuated for treatment in the hope that some would recover fast enough to return as reinforcements.

Harry whipped up a few charms to keep them from being noticed while they planned their assault and duplicated the weapons and ammunition necessary.

"Damn. I wish I could control Fiend Fire." Kingsley commented. "Would be really useful right now."

"Powerful spell?" Drake asked as he checked his rifle.

"Very, but nearly impossible to control." Kingsley replied. "Flame whips will have to do."

"Just make then count." Mason stated. "Sound off readiness."

One by one they confirmed they were ready to proceed. Mason looked around at the mismatched group and saw fatigue beginning to show. Even the veteran special forces people were feeling the drain of the extended heavy combat.

"We're doing well people. One last fight at its over." Mason told them, trying to boost morale.

"We're not alone in this one either." Harry added. "We've got allies right there, let's go help them."

With a firm grips and steady steps the team stepped into the field of engagement. They didn't bother dropping the charm keeping them from being noticed, that would end soon enough.

Harry took the lead and carefully focused as he cast an arc of cutting air in to the mob of monsters between him and the goblins. He had to reduce its power to ensure he didn't injure any goblins but the first lot of monsters were cut down and the entire team entered the fray.

Harry wasn't the only one who found himself separating his mind from his actions as fatigue began creeping in. Monster over there, cast, that one's closing in a friend, cast, incoming from above, cast, cast, cast, dodge, slash. It was almost a choreographed dance that dealt out death and destruction on the monsters before them.

Harry mind reengaged itself after what felt like an eternity as he found himself searching for the next target and came up empty. He blinked and saw a group of exhausted goblins approach, picking their way through the carnage carefully and ensuring everything was dead as they went. The rest of the goblins were either doing the same or having their wounds treated.

"Harry, drink this." Tracy caught his attention and handed him a water bottle and began looking his wounds over. "Ouch, that's nasty."

"Huh?" Harry twisted to see blood on his side and back. "I didn't even notice that."

"I don't know how you could have missed it but thank Merlin for your armour or you'd be dead right now." Tracy cut his ruined armour off so she could treat the wound better.

"Harry. It's really great to see you. And your friends." The Assessor, looking worse for wear and tired but still cheerful, greeted him.

"Hey. Sorry we took so long getting here." Harry grinned back. "There were a few pests to deal with."

The Assessor chuckled. "That there were.

"Indeed." Another goblin added. "Your assistance, and that of your associates, was timely and greatly appreciated. Thank you, Master Warrior Potter."

The goblin gave a nod to Harry and his friends before heading back to the rest of the goblins.

The Assessor was looking between Harry and the departing goblin. "That was high praise indeed."

"Really?" Harry looked at the other goblin in surprise. "He seems, I dunno, grander than most."

"Nicely put." The Assessor grinned. "That was Goldhorn Gringotts. He's the current leader of the goblin people. For him to thank you in person, and acknowledge the rest of your group, was quite an achievement. You have truly been accepted as a Master Warrior."

"Wow." Harry blinked in shock.

Kingsley clapped him on the shoulder. "Congrats Harry. It may not seem like it but you've done far more today than you might think."

"Great." Harry's response was tired as his adrenaline began fading. "I think I need to sit down for a minute."

"Good idea, Harry." Kingsley nodded. "You did a huge amount today. You need to rest."

Harry nodded back and sank to the ground. He watched as everyone run moved around purposefully. The goblins were sending teams out to search for any remaining enemy, or survivors. The Aurors and Special Forces were talking with the Goblin Leadership. Hermione, Philip and Padma where with them. Tracy and Hannah were helping the goblin healers. Ginny, Susan, Daphne and Luna were all sitting nearby; having been in more direct combat than the other girls they were far more tired.

Harry felt a little pathetic at just sitting there while others were still on their feet but felt a little better when he saw numerous other goblins just sitting and getting some energy back.

He felt better still after Kingsley and Mason joined him.

"Well, I think we improved Goblin relations with the Ministry a tiny little bit." Kingsley said as he sat next to Harry. "Their respect for you on the other hand is at a record high. Perhaps the whole Wizard Goblin mess can be sorted out if you become Minister of Magic."

"Talk to the girls." Harry replied. "I wouldn't be surprised if that was in a plan somewhere."

The two older men laughed.

"That's not a bad idea actually." Daphne commented. "Hermione would be a perfect Undersecretary and Susan, Ginny and Myself could help as political advisors and liaisons. Luna gives us a direct pipeline into the media as well."

"Wouldn't Hermione do a better job than me?" Harry asked.

"Possibly, but she wouldn't get your acceptance." Susan explained. "As your Undersecretary she would get know and her abilities proven, then you can endorse her and hand the reins over to her. Unless she decides she doesn't want the job."

"Got my life mapped out huh?" Harry teased.

"Not in the slightest." Daphne assured him. "It's just the best way to finish what we are starting here is from the Minister's Office. There is really only one mandatory thing."

"Oh?" Harry looked at her quizzically.

"After you beat V..Voldemort into a bloody pulp we are all going on a vacation and seeing the World." Daphne stated.

"That sounds good." Harry smiled at her.

Harry blinked and rubbed his face tiredly and spoke to the two men. "I don't know how you two were still on your feet. I'm totally wiped out."

"You've only been training for a month, Harry." Kingsley answered him. "Your stamina still needs work, though you all did incredibly well to last until the end. Plus you still aren't used to the massive use of your magic over a short period of time. Add that to the fact the you might have used as much magic as the rest of us combined and you have your answer."

"Oh. Okay." Harry nodded.

"You've nothing to be ashamed of, Harry." Kingsley ruffled chuckled. "You're all doing far better than could reasonably be expected of you. You just need to keep training."

"We completed our objective and we all got out alive." Mason added. "And with no permanent injury. That's the best possible outcome possible. We need to work on team tactics, but any doubts I had about working with you have been dealt with. I think we can make this a successful joint venture. It's going to be a pleasure working with you all."

"Glad to hear it." Harry nodded happily. "I hope all our future missions got at least this well. Now, can we go home yet?"

That got another laugh.

"Sure." Kingsley stood and offered a hand to the gender altered wizard. "Let's go."

The goblins provided an escort that led them deeper into the caves. A nervous moment occurred when they had to pass a dragon that guarded that particular passage, and they were inside Gringotts proper. The difference was obvious with well hewn walls and goblin decorations. From there they were led down a few corridors to a fireplace and handed some floo powder. The goblin guards provided them with a brief salute as they made their exit back to the Extension at Hermione's home.

The special forces crew had been gobsmacked at seeing a dragon at all, let alone being that close to one. It was easy to see just how formidable they were and were curious about how effective their weaponry would be against one; the heavy scales looked like they could repel most small arms fire.

Back in the Entrance Hall they took the time to relax in an environment that hadn't been stained with blood. They were no longer blood stained either. The anxious people waiting for their return included the two elves who quickly vanished the blood and grime from their clothing as they stepped out of the floo. This was beneficial to the others waiting there, Hermione's parents, grandmother, great-grandparents.

"I'm so glad you're all safe." Emma gushed as she and Dan pulled Hermione into a hug.

"We're good." Hermione assured her parents as she hugged them back.

Harry smiled as he watched the family reunion but got the shock of his life as Emma, releasing Hermione into the embrace of the elder members of her family proceeded to engulf Harry in a hug too, and the rest of the girls after him.

Harry looked over at the special forces team. "There is just one more thing before you go. We would prefer to keep the location of this place hidden for the time being."

"We have our orders from our superiors to consider there." Keller replied.

"Perhaps this is s chance to demonstrate something else we can provide your people." Daphne gave Harry a pointed look.

Harry nodded and gave her a smile of understanding. "I can lock the information away. Your superiors trying to retrieve it should give it a good run for is money. I'd like to know if there flaws that need correcting."

"How do you lock that information away?" Mason asked, curious.

"Magic." Harry grinned. "It's a Potter Family secret. It's safe, I've used it before successfully and without any side-effects."

"It is really necessary?" Mason queried.

"Our privacy is important." Harry stated. "Our group is only just beginning to work together properly and this sort of thing can make or break the teamwork. That's why I'm talking to you and not just casting spells at you."

"Give us a minute." Mason pulled the combine special forces unit to one side and they discussed the matter for several minutes.

"Very well." Mason spoke for the group when they returned. "We will accept this request."

"Thank you." Harry quickly performed the spell silently on each of them. "There, nice and simple."

"I don't feel any different." Keller commented.

"You'll only notice it once it releases the information after hiding it." Harry explained.

"How flexible is it?" Keller probed for more information.

"It's better for a single item or block of information rather than anything complex or open ended." Harry recalled what he had learnt from the Potter Books and his father's notes. "The more things that link to the information the harder it is to hide. The more self contained it is the easier."

"So, hiding that you know certain person who is well known would be hard but hiding a secret piece of information, like a code, is easy?" Keller posed the question.

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "A code or even a lot of secret information can be easily hidden if has no links to other memories. The only catch is that I have to know what I'm hiding."

"That's quite the catch." Mason commented.

Harry shrugged. "Dealing with the mind gets a little more complicated. I could hide a building and even though I know where it is I can't reveal it, only the person designated can."

"That would be useful." Mason stared. "You could hide entire secure bases and facilities."

"There is a size limit, but yeah." Harry grinned, then turned very sombre. "Just make sure you don't trust the wrong person."

"That is something we know all too well." Keller replied grimly.

It was on that darker note that the special forces team left for their own base.

!HPEaSE!

Hermione was the first one to wake the next morning. Intentionally. After the horrors of the battle through the dark goblin caves all the girls had bundled up next to each other on Harry's bed; drawing comfort from each other's presence.

Hermione was glad for it, she was fully aware how lucky they were to have gotten through that battle few so few injuries. She, however, needed something more than the other girls; something only Harry could provide her.

Hermione managed to sit up without disturbing Tracy, who was snuggled against her back, and looked at Harry who was next to her. She felt a little bad about waking him early and hoped he would think the reason worth it.

Hermione covered Harry's mouth in case he made a noise when she woke him and got no further as his hand grabbed her wrist and his grip tightened painfully. Hermione had to hold in a gasp of pain.

Harry's eyes snapped open and his body tensed until he recognised Hermione leaning over and he released her arm.

"Sorry." Harry whispered.

Hermione shook her head and whispered back. "My fault for how I tried to wake you. Can you come with me please?"

Harry nodded and the pair extricated themselves from the mass of sleeping bodies on the bed. Hermione snagged her wand from the nightstand and led Harry from the room. She took him down the hallway to their private living area at the end and cast a few spells at the stairs before putting her wand down and turning to Harry.

Harry was studying the stairwell. He could sense a privacy ward and another to prevent people coming up them. As such he was surprised as Hermione stepped up to him and gently pressed her body into his. She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him into a slow but intense kiss.

Harry felt his body heat up as Hermione moved her body against him sensually.

"Hermione?" Harry gasped as she finally released him from her kiss.

"I need this Harry. Please." Hermione quiet voice didn't hide her need or desire. "I need you. I need this with you."

Harry looked at her carefully before giving her a nod. Hermione needed nothing more as she pulled him back into another kiss and began moving them towards the nearest couch. Hermione sat and used her now lower position to pull one strap of Harry singlet down exposing his breast so she could attach her lips to it. She kept pulling the strap down until Harry pulled his arm clear of it.

Hermione pulled back and quickly peeled off her own top before tossing a cushion on the floor in front of her and pulled Harry down to kneel on it and returned to kissing him passionately as she slipped off her little shorts.

Now naked, she pulled Harry with her as she lay back on the couch. "Touch me Harry. Please; I need now."

Harry nodded and let his hands roam her bare body and listened to Hermione's gentle moans of pleasure intensify as he found and gently worked her sensitive points. Hermione found her desires needed very little encouragement and was quickly pushing one of Harry's hands down between her legs as she drew his head to her breasts.

Harry's fingers slid inside her easily and began moving gently. Hermione sighed as she felt the pleasure she had been craving begin to build. "Thank you Harry." Was all she managed to say before she let herself succumb to her desires.

Harry found the rhythm that pleasured Hermione the most and couldn't resist a grin as Hermione's moan's increased before she dragged his head back to her breasts.

!HPEaSE!

Susan woke and blinked a couple of times as her senses kicked in and made her aware of her surroundings. She found Luna cuddled up in front of her and found Padma behind her. Looking around she noticed a prominent gap. Hermione's bushy brown hair and Harry's deep red hair were highly distinctive in the group and their absence was easy to notice.

Susan thought about trying to get back to sleep but it only took a moment for her to realise that there was no point. Instead she freed herself from her blankets, and Luna, and padded out of the bedroom. Luna was quick to shift over and cuddle up to Padma.

Susan wandered down the hallway. She debated sticking her nose into Hermione and Ginny's bedroom, but decided against invading their private space without permission. Harry's bedroom was almost a common area, though only when he permitted. His private office had still only been seen by Hermione and Ginny, and only the one time. If he was in there they would ask an elf, Winky normally, to go and get him.

As Susan approached the living area she began to hear odd noises. Curious at the source she entered the room and looked around. And froze.

Hermione was lying on a couch, completely naked, with Harry knelt on the ground next to her. One of Harry's hand was clearly working Hermione's groin while his head was pinned to her chest by her arm.

Susan stared at the intimate pair, mesmerised, unable to look away as Hermione's body writhed in pleasure under Harry's ministrations. Hermione suddenly let out a cry of pleasure that seemed to come from deep within her and her body shuddered for a bit before she collapsed back onto the couch bonelessly.

Susan watched as Hermione gazed at Harry lovingly for a moment before gently tapping the hand between her legs. Harry carefully withdrew his fingers and sat back a little.

"Morning Susan." Hermione suddenly greeted the Hufflepuff.

Harry jerked and spun round to see the other girl in the room. "Ah. Um. Ah."

Both Susan and Harry flushed hard while Hermione casually lifted Harry's top and covered his still bare breast and reached for her clothing.

"Hermione? Why didn't you say anything?" Harry glared at the bushy haired girl.

"Because if I had you would have jumped, and with your fingers inside me it would have hurt me badly." Hermione explained, pausing to pull her top on. "Besides, I was far too into it to care at that point. I imagine I would have cared a lot more when we were just getting started, or in a few minutes when the rush I'm feeling wears off."

"I'm sorry for staying to watch." Susan looked down. "I was just wondering where you both were and then I couldn't tear my eyes away from you both."

"Forget it." Hermione waved her concern away. "We are all starting to get more intimate with Harry and with our proximity to each other this sort of thing is bound to happen. Besides, I shouldn't have picked here for our little tryst. Or at least warded the door as well as the stairs."

Hermione gave Harry a firm kiss. "I'll make it up to you a little later. How does the shower sound?"

"Wet." Harry managed a slight smile and joke. "But fun."

"Good." Hermione kissed him again. "There are a couple of things I want to try on you that I hope you'll like. Breakfast?"

Harry nodded.

"I'll get it." Susan offered, hurrying into the kitchen area. "It's the least I can do for invading your privacy like that."

!HPEasE!

Breakfast was enjoyable, though Susan was careful to keep the conversation away from anything intimate while Hermione sat as close to Harry as she could without either of them driving their elbows into each other's ribs as they ate.

After they had finished eating Harry headed off to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Hermione was about to follow when Susan stopped her.

"Hermione," the Hufflepuff said quietly, "can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." Hermione nodded. "I'll catch you up Harry."

Harry nodded and headed off. He met Daphne and they greeted each other happily as they passed in the hallway.

"So, now that Harry can't hear, what is it you want to ask me?" Hermione sat back down.

Susan hesitated uncomfortably.

"If it's about sex, or what we were doing, just spit it out." Hermione smiled.

"What's it like?" Susan spoke in a rush.

"Wonderful." Hermione answered promptly. "You'll enjoy it, when you're ready."

"Oh?"

"Well." Hermione paused to organise her thoughts. "You know how people always talk about love being so important."

"Yeah." Susan nodded. "Isn't it?"

"It is, but you have no idea how much trust comes into it." Hermione explained. "You really have to open yourself up to your partner to enjoy it fully. Emotionally, mentally and physically."

Susan thought about it then gave a nod. "I think I get what you're saying. How do you handle Harry being a girl though?"

Hermione shrugged. "It has its advantages. The issue is that however much we have been helping Harry adjust to his female body, he is still a 'he' where it's most important. And we've never forgotten that, a lot of how we act around him is based on the fact that Harry is still male at heart. It's just a matter of taking the next step and acting on the fact that Harry is still the same person, regardless of his physical changes."

"I think you're right." Susan agreed. "Still, it's a big step between accepting it and acting on it."

"True." Hermione admitted. "But I think it's worth it. You can really let yourself go without the risk of accidentally having sex with him."

Susan flushed at that thought.

"Still, as much as I enjoy being that intimate with Harry, it's going to cause a few problems." Hermione sighed.

"Oh?" Susan prompted, wanting to know more.

"Well, from a personal view point, I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about Harry being that intimate with you and the others. Plus Ginny and I have done a lot with Harry together. I've kept it down lately so she doesn't feel left out but I know she is going to want to get try and catch up. I can easily see her rushing and getting hurt. I'm not sure how I'll handle a threesome either."

Susan winced. "Yeah."

"Then there's Harry. He's still quite fragile in some ways. How is he going to feel about basically hopping from one bed to another. Sure, we can say we're all fine with it, and hopefully we will be thanks to the bond, but he doesn't have that. He's going to get confused and unsure of himself." Hermione went on.

"He's going to need a lot of reassurance isn't he?" Susan looked a little sad. "It's nice that he isn't the sort of guy that would jump at the opportunity to bed several girls. It would be nice for him to accept this a little easier though."

"True, but if he did then he wouldn't be Harry." Daphne finally made her presence known.

Both Hermione and Susan jumped.

"What is it with today. Everyone keeps walking in on me." Hermione protested.

"Oh?" Daphne quirked an eyebrow.

"I walked in on Harry getting Hermione off." Susan answered. "She was fully naked, lying on the couch while a female Harry pleasured her."

Daphne actually gaped. "That must have been awkward."

"Not until afterwards when I said hi to her." Hermione teased her Hufflepuff friend.

Daphne blinked. "So, Susan was just standing there watching and you let her without saying anything."

Hermione shrugged. "I was enjoying Harry's attention far too much to care. And, if you'll both excuse me, I think it's time for me to return the favour."

Hermione happily bounced out of the room.

"Wow." Susan blinked. "Just like that."

"She's pretty bold when she wants to be." Daphne grinned.

"How much did you hear?" Susan asked.

"From Hermione talking about Harry being the same person, regardless of his female body."

"Pretty much all of it then." Susan nodded. "What do you think?"

"It's a tricky situation." Daphne sighed as she sat next to Susan. "And her mentioning the possibility of a threesome is an added complication. Though, now that I think about it, it would be a good way of adding a new person to the group he has that level of intimacy with."

"Uh." Susan stuttered. "How do you figure that?"

"It gives a stronger level of implied acceptance of the new sexual partner." Daphne explained. "More than just words."

"I can see that being true." Susan admitted. "But as confident as we are as a group, I think I'd be the only one who could join you and not feel a little intimidated."

Daphne laughed. "True. I wonder how it would look, you me and Harry together."

"Breast overload." Susan chuckled.

"Have you notice how we know we still have to decide if we are staying, but we only ever consider what is involved in staying?" Daphne commented

"I know, but if you were to leave, who would you be with?" Susan asked. "I can't think of anyone."

"Neither." Daphne admitted. "I was just making a comment. So, after the little display you walked in on, how does that change things for you?"

"A lot." Susan sighed. "As embarrassing as it was, I'm really curious what it would be like. Hermione was really enjoying herself."

"Curiosity is not the best reason to take that step." Daphne warned.

"I know." Susan assured her. "But it does get me thinking about how to progress the relationship I have with Harry. I just don't want to cause him any additional problems."

"Just take it slow." Daphne advised. "You know what happened with me and him right?"

"Back when we were exploring the tunnels in the World Room." Susan nodded.

"It wasn't pleasant for either of us." Daphne explained. "I'm still hesitant to progress things because of it. Just be careful not to rush things."

"I will. Thanks." Susan smiled at her Slytherin friend.

"Good." Daphne smiled back. "Beyond that, go for it. So, what do you think Hermione and Harry are doing?"

Susan flushed at the thought, but still managed a grin. "Whatever it is, I'm sure they are enjoying it."

!HPEaSE!

Susan was right. Hermione had hurried to join Harry and had started kissing him as soon as she had stepped into the shower. She had then proceeded to scrub him down thoroughly and invited him to do the same with her.

"Okay, now, shift to your male form please." Hermione told him.

"Okay." Harry was a little confused as to why but complied.

Hermione pulled back a little to gaze at his manhood properly. "Wow. Nice."

Harry flushed a little under her gaze, and more as his length began increasing and hardening. "Sorry."

"For what?" Hermione smiled at him. "I like that you think of me that way. Can I touch it?"

"Um, okay. Gently please." Harry replied.

Hermione nodded and gently took him in hand. "Wow, it's so soft and silky. I like it."

Harry gasped in pleasure at Hermione's touch. "Yeah, me too."

Hermione could help but smile as she gently began stroking his length, watching Harry's eyes close as he fell back against the side of the shower. She began to carefully vary her pace and grip to find what gave Harry the most pleasure. Her pace slowly increased until Harry was panting between his groans of pleasure until suddenly his shaft vanished from her grasp.

Hermione blinked and looked Harry's female body over. "Lost control did you?"

"Yeah." Harry gasped. "That felt really good. I just couldn't keep my concentration."

"You'll need to work on that." Hermione pulled him into her embrace. "But I think we'll enjoy practising that."

"Me too." Harry grinned.

"Want me to keep going?" Hermione asked as she pushed her bare body into his.

Harry flushed and replied hesitantly. "Please, if you don't mind."

Hermione merely kissed him firmly and knelt before him. Her head was now level with his breasts and her finger slid up his leg to begin caressing the folds of his opening. Harry gently held Hermione's head as she began layering kissing across his breasts. There previous activities meant that it didn't take long before her fingers were sliding inside him gently and then Harry was totally at her mercy.

Hermione was much more confident in her movements now and knew what Harry liked. She put it to good use as she worked Harry into a frenzy. She was worried for a moment when his knees buckled and he join her on the floor; but she managed to shift herself it time that their heads didn't collide and her fingers didn't jam painfully into his delicate passage. The upside of their new position was that she could now kiss his lips passionately. They were still kissing as Harry's body shuddered uncontrollably and he nearly screamed his release down her throat.

"Wow. That was different." Hermione commented as their lips parted and Harry's head fell to her shoulder. "I liked it."

"Wow is right." Harry panted. "I don't think I'll be standing any time soon."

Hermione grinned as she kept her fingers moving inside him gently for a little bit longer before gently removing them. "I know I haven't said this for a while, as I don't want to put any pressure on you, but I do love you."

"Thanks." Harry replied. "I... I still don't really understand how I feel yet; but I do know I would be torn apart if something were to happen to you."

"Well, you feel strongly for me. And I know you have passion for me." Hermione kissed him. "Those are very good signs."

"Do you think I'm in love with you?" Harry asked her suddenly.

"I can't tell you what you're feeling." Hermione answered gently. "But I do feel loved by you. You make me feel very special."

Harry nodded. "It's a little frustrating not understanding what I'm feeling. I just really don't want to get it wrong and hurt you. Any of you. I'm just terrified that I'll hurt you if I don't figure it out quick enough."

"You're doing fine so far. Your concern is reassuring." Hermione smiled as she drew him closer. "But try not to worry too much over it. There are plenty of other relationship issues still to come. Please just be open with us. We can help, if you let us."

"Thanks." Harry managed a smile as he relaxed into her.

"Come on." Hermione said after a minute. "Let's get out of here and get ready for the day. As much as we need to relax today, there are things we have to work through."

Harry nodded and stood, helping Hermione to her feet, and turned the shower off.


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Notes**

Another long break between chapters. My apologies but life, as always, interferes.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I'm hoping to get the next one up shortly. I've actually been having the time to write again.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed or sent me messages. I always like to hear from people who enjoy my work.

**Chapter 29**

By the time Harry and Hermione were walking, towel clad, from the bathroom to the wardrobe everyone else had risen and were getting their breakfasts.

"How is everyone?" Harry asked as he entered the living area.

"Good. A little sore though." Was the general consensus.

"Glad to hear it." Harry smiled. "I think we all did really well yesterday. I'm not saying we were perfect but, given our lack of experience, I think we didn't do too badly at all. We all pulled our weight and we didn't let anyone down. And, most importantly, we all got home safely. Yes there were some injuries but nothing major. In fact I think we got off lightly considering the situation."

"I agree." Susan nodded. "I've heard enough about combat from Auntie to know how lucky we were. I think our training and teamwork has paid off but we need to keep working at it. We still have a lot of room for improvement."

There were some determined looks exchanged. Everyone now had a fuller understanding of the stakes. Even Hermione, Ginny and Luna, who had fought at the Ministry, had a new appreciation for the dangers of combat.

"What's the plan for today?"Tracy asked.

"We need to review what happened." Harry answered. "We're probably going to go over it a few times, but I think it's going to be important that we do. M told us that we need to discuss this. Well, she told me to discuss things so I guess I should go first."

Harry sighed and ducked his head. "I was scared, more for all of you than myself but, still. And the... I don't know how to describe it."

"Carnage is the only word I can think of." Hermione spoke up. "I think that is going to haunt me for a long time. I was terrified too. That was so incredibly different to the Ministry."

"Yeah." Ginny shuddered. "I mean, we knew they were Death Eaters we were fighting at the Ministry and they could kill us at any time, but they held back because of the Prophesy Sphere. Last night, those creatures were just out to kill us. No intelligence, no thoughts, no reason. They were just going to kill us."

"And eat us. At least they wouldn't have raped us" Daphne shuddered. "It's not until now, thinking back, that I realise just how scared I was. I don't think I could have handled it without knowing all of you were with me."

"Same with me." Tracy added in a quiet, sad voice. "I felt totally useless during that fight. I know I was there to heal and had to save my strength but to see you five standing there, facing them directly... Even the rest of you got to assist. I just had to stand there and watch."

Daphne moved to hug her dorm-mate. "I can't imagine how hard it was for you, but you were far from useless, Trace. FAR from useless."

The others added their own reassurance and their own feelings. Fear featured prominently, as did disgust. All of them, except Tracy, had added to the carnage at some level. The memories of the blood and gore they had to wade through were haunting. It was only the closeness of the group that was holding them together and keeping them going. It was that same closeness that was helping them to heal now.

Harry and Hermione found themselves alone again when the others went to get ready for the day.

"That got rather intense." Hermione commented, breaking the silence.

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "I really hope we don't end up in that situation again. I'm more than a little scared we will though."

"I know." Hermione tried to give him a comforting smile. "But while this war continues then we probably will find ourselves in that sort of situation again and again. Or worse."

"Now that is a thought that's going to keep me up at night." Harry grimaced.

"Sorry." Hermione apologised. "Umm. As something else to think about instead; how would you feel, and I'm only talking hypothetically, but what would you think if, say, Ginny, or maybe Susan, joined us when we... you know..."

Harry blinked as he tried to comprehend what Hermione was talking about. He flushed as his thoughts took a more sexual turn. "You mean like what we were doing when Susan walked in on us, or the shower? Like, if she joined in instead of just watching?"

Hermione nodded. "Something like that. I'm not saying it's going to happen; I just wanted your opinion on it."

"I really don't know." Harry couldn't fight the heavy flush staining his cheeks and neck. "I mean, would you want that? Would she want that? Is that even right?"

"Matters of what's normally considered right or wrong can't really be considered." Hermione countered his last point first. "Within our... unique relationship we have to make our own rules. As long as we are all in agreement and are happy with them then they can be defined as 'right'.

"The really question is whether or not we would be comfortable with that situation."

"I don't know that I would be." Harry admitted. "I'm struggling enough with the idea of doing some of the things we do with someone else."

"I know." Hermione smiled at him. "And you needn't worry so much about it. I don't know that I would be comfortable either, to be honest. But, in that spirit of honesty, I think I would be more comfortable with Ginny joining us than Susan. But that's just how I feel right now; that could change."

Harry was silent for a while and his head drooped. "Could your feelings about me change?"

Hermione closed the gap and lifted his head so she could look him in the eyes. "I admit that I don't know what the future will bring but I will Never stop thinking of you as an incredibly special person. I honestly believe that you are the man who will make me happy for the rest of my life. I love you Harry; and I know in my heart that that love will only grow."

Harry stared at the girl who had been with him through so many things and felt a surge of emotion. He pulled free and turned away to hide the moisture appearing at the corners of his eyes.

Hermione let him turn away and wrapped him in a hug from behind, gently cupping one of his breasts to increase the intimacy of their position.

Harry couldn't help but lean back into her, deepening the hug by wrapping his arms across hers to hold them against him more firmly. He couldn't resist increasing the feeling of pleasure he got from the intimate placement of her hand.

They stayed like that for a few minutes until they heard the others beginning to return. They separated but Hermione sat next to him, ensuring she was firmly pressed into his side as she gave him a strong, happy smile that Harry shyly returned.

With the other assembled they left the Extension and joined Hermione's family in the original part of the house.

"How are you all doing?" Philip asked as they entered the lounge.

"Okay I suppose." Harry answered for the group. "But last night was disturbing for us on multiple levels."

"Speaking for the group now?" Philip lifted an eyebrow.

"Not really." Harry shrugged. "We've discussed this already."

"Good." Philip nodded. "And last night was horrific. That level of violence and carnage is not common in my experience; and I believe the others will agree with me. All of you did really well."

"I glad to know that last night was a aberration, rather than a common occurrence." Daphne sighed in relief.

Philip shrugged. "I honestly can't tell you one way or another sorry. Combat in the magical world is still alien to me."

Daphne wasn't the only one who slumped. "I really wish you hadn't said that."

Philip merely shrugged again. "What are your plans for the day?"

"Resting mostly." Harry answered. "Most of us still have some healing to do. I'm betting there's going to be a meeting to discuss last night's mission as well."

"Probably." Philip nodded. "Should be interesting. So you're going to take it easy until then?"

"Yeah." Harry replied. "I'm betting that we're going to be training hard after this."

"You will be." Philip agreed. "There were a number of mistakes made by everyone last night. Those can't be repeated against opponents that know how, and are able, to capitalise on them."

"I understand." Harry nodded with a serious expression.

"I'm sure you do."

!HPEaSE!

Harry and the girls were outside relaxing and reading a few books for new spells to learn when Winky announced the arrival of the joint Special Forces and Secret Service team and the Aurors.

Harry escorted the team, which included M to the World Room. Dobby was setting up chairs for everyone to sit in and quickly vanished.

M stood and looked over the assembled team. "Well, congratulations on the successful completion of your first mission. It came far sooner than I had anticipated but you coped well. I've been given the overview of the events of last night by Captain Mason and would like any additional information or thoughts any of you might like to add."

Kingsley nodded. "There are two key items about last night that are concerning. Firstly was the presence of foreign wizards in Death Eater robes. It looks like He is recruiting from Europe so we need to find out where they are from and how they are entering the country. Secondly was their entrance into the Goblin caves. Goblins are known to be experts in Warding so it would take a skilled Ward Breaker to gain entrance, especially without being detected."

"I imagine the Goblins will be trying to find the answer to that one." Harry commented. "I'll ask the Assessor and see if he is willing to provide us any information. If there is a skilled Ward Breaker amongst the Death Eaters then there are many sites that could be at risk."

"As if our resources weren't spread thin enough." Kingsley sighed. "Still, it's better to know sooner rather than later."

"I'm curious about how they got that many creatures to invade the place?" Meyers asked.

"One of the things the Ministry of Magic keeps hidden is the number of magical creatures in the country." Kingsley answered. "They do have specific habitats that rely on charms to keep non magical people away but wizards could find them easily enough and collect them. It would take a fair amount of time and manpower to get that many so there is a serious concern about what resources V..V..Voldemort has at his disposal."

"Could they have imported some, you know, with the foreign wizards?" Tracy asked a little hesitantly.

"That is a real possibility." Kingsley pondered the question for a minute. "There are Ministries in Europe that would turn a blind eye to getting rid of pest and dangerous species like we saw last night. If they are currently having a problem with them then they may even pay to get rid of them, no questions asked. Still, logistically it would be a nightmare to contain and move that many creatures. I doubt they would try again. I think He only used those so it wasn't obviously him doing the attacking."

"And the relations between the Goblins and our Ministry are poor enough that if we hadn't been told about it, thanks to Harry," Tonks tossed a grin at her Head of Family, "then we wouldn't have been the wiser and the Goblins position could have been weakened enough that they would have had to withdraw the support they've provided us."

"Or worse, been forced to change side." Daphne shuddered.

"Goblin Warders could remove the Wards they created easily and if we weren't aware of it then we would be vulnerable and not know it." Padma stated. "So would every other area that we've had then assist in protecting."

"That is called having all your eggs in one basket." M grimaced. "Something to be avoided where ever possible."

"It's a very bad idea." Hermione agreed. "Harry, do you think you are up to working with the Wards here and improving them? Just so that if a Goblin gets forced to break them, he can't."

"I'll look into it." Harry promised. "I just don't think I'm ready to work with Wards this complex yet."

"You have a number of other houses you can practise on first." Daphne told him.

"The situation just keeps getting more complex." Hestia sighed.

"It does explain the dragon though." Ginny commented. "Imagine what would happen if Tom threw a few dragons at somewhere like Hogsmeade, or a non-magical area."

"With Giants as well, the destruction would be horrific." Hermione gasped.

"And Voldemort wouldn't lose anyone he might consider useful." Harry finished grimly.

M actually groaned. "I hate dealing with madmen like this. The only thing you can predict is that he doesn't care about the loss of life, on either side, as long as he wins. There is a lot to cover with this situation. If you can work together to come up with likely scenarios that would be appreciated. Shacklebolt, can you start enquires about what is happening in the Continent and feed that information to myself, Minister Bones and everyone here."

Kingsley nodded.

"Now, regarding a the combined unit?" M moved the conversation along.

"On the whole I can see a combined unit working out very well." Drake spoke up. "I would recommend that any Witch or Wizard, are those the right terms, be put through proper military training but the use of magic provides some interesting options. Additional ammunition when needed for a start."

"I agree. Magic isn't as quick as a gun, but it can affect things that are unaffected conventional weaponry." Meyers added. "I would like to see how else magic can improve our standard equipment. As combat goes it will integrate easily enough. The issue is Harry and his sword."

"Sorry about that." Harry ducked his head.

"Don't be. You're really effective with that weapon. Effective enough to make it worth our while to incorporate it." Meyers answered. "I believe our immediate focus should be on two areas. Harry and his team need weapons and SOP training. I would also like them to see what they can do to improve our weaponry. I believe they can offer a lot in that department."

"When it comes to equipment I'd like to include the twins." Harry said. "They're a bit nuts but they're good at what they do. They can come up with good ideas"

Ginny chuckled. "They're the ones who invented that swamp I used on that training mission."

"An unconventional tool." M commented.

"But effective." A grumbling voice sounded.

"I dislike the idea of including more people unnecessarily." M stated. "But we have discussed them already I can see value in including people who can specialise in equipment."

"We can include them at a later date if you would prefer." Harry offered.

"I would." M inclined her head to the gender altered wizard in appreciation. "Let's see what you can achieve without them first."

"Let us know what you need and we'll see what we can do." Daphne told the head of MI6.

M nodded. "Good. Shacklebolt, please focus on how the foreign wizards are getting into the country and where those creatures come from. This is a serious breach in the Realm's Security and I want this breach closed ASAP."

"I have to agree with you." Kingsley gave a nod. "I'll inform Minister Bones and begin looking that immediately. I agree that we need better security in that regard. I'm just not sure how we're going to do it."

"I am happy to offer any assistance I can." M told him. "And it seems we have some talented resources here. Speaking of which, why did you lock some information away inside their heads?"

"We didn't want that getting out just yet." Harry shrugged. "Besides, I'm sure you'll test the limits of the spell; I'm interesting in finding them out myself. And it's not like I didn't get their permission first."

"True. Very well." M stood. "I will leave you to your training. Let me know if there is any additional equipment that you require for you testing."

"We will Ma'am." Meyers replied as he and the rest of the Special Forces team stood and saluted.

Harry watched the MI6 Leader leave. "So, training?"

"Yes." Meyers answered. "We did well last night but there are a number of things you need to learn to work with us better. You also need more firearms training. As I'm sure you observed, our weapons were quicker to use, if not always totally effective."

"Yeah."Susan nodded.

"And we can save our magical energy too." Daphne added.

"We just need ways to improve your weaponry." Hermione said. "But we will need your help to do so. You know more about your weapons and their limitations."

"We're more than happy to sit down and go over all that with you." Meyers told her. "But for now, let get you all up to speed with what we have."

"Okay." Harry stood. "Can you start with those hand-signs of yours?"

"I brought over a manual that explains the code. You can work on those in your own time and we'll test you on them." Meyers answered. "Now, let's begin..."

Harry and the girls spent the rest of the day working with the Special Forces group, practising all their procedures and getting their weapons skills up to speed.

!HPEaSE!

"Man, I ache everywhere." Hannah complained as she collapsed onto Harry's bed.

"That was a lot of hard work." Tracy agreed as she joined the Hufflepuff.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad." Daphne teased her house mate.

"Shut up." Was Tracy's tired reply.

Daphne laughed. "You need to exercise more. You'll like it. You look and feel great too."

"Please shut up." Tracy begged. "I'm too sore to put up with that sort of thing."

"Really?" Daphne bounced down onto the bed next to her friend. "You know, if you exercised more, you wouldn't be so sore."

"Really, just shut up." Tracy took a couple of attempts to roll over so she could bury her face in the covers.

Susan had pulled Hermione aside for a quiet conversation.

"I'm really sorry about this morning." Susan began.

"Forget about it." Hermione waved the Hufflepuff's concerns away. "Please."

"I wish I could." Susan blushed. "Was it really as good it looked?'

"Better probably." Hermione smiled at the memory, her cheeks tinting.

"How could I get that too?" Susan stuttered slightly but managed to get the question out.

"Firstly, don't rush." Hermione cautioned. "Secondly, get used to being intimate with Harry while he's in his female form."

"Really." Susan blinked in surprise.

"Yeah." Hermione grinned. "It can be fun and you can completely let yourself go without worries of going too far."

"I see." Susan nodded. "Isn't that... I dunno, a little weird?"

"Not really. Harry is Harry." Hermione shrugged. "You just let yourself go and you get used to it pretty quick."

Susan nodded again. "Okay. Thank you."

"Good luck." Hermione smiled.

"Thanks." Susan paused. "Isn't it a little odd you helping me get... closer to the guy you were with this morning?"

Hermione considered it. "Probably, but Harry and 'odd' go hand in hand. This isn't easy but fighting won't help at all."

Susan smiled at little. "Yeah. But in any case thank you for being so understanding about this. I can't imagine how hard this must be for you."

"I've been through many challenging situations with Harry." Hermione sighed. "But this has to be the most unique."

"I can believe it." Susan agreed. "But still; thank you."

"You're welcome." Hermione gave the Hufflepuff a brief hug.

!HPEaSE!

The Special Forces and Secret Agents had never been in such an unusual situation. Working with a 'bunch of school girls' was not a normal day for them. But this group worked hard and learnt fast. That was the factor that allowed them to adjust to the new rhythm. They had been picking up the sign-language they used quickly, as they did with every other skill. It was this factor that allowed them to ignore the fact that they followed no normal form of discipline.

They were intelligent too.

"Right." Meyers spoke as he lifted the weapon out of the case. "This is not one of our standard weapons. Primarily as it's too large and heavy. I want you to consider the following factors when doing your modifications: weight, ammunition volume, maintenance, noise and operating temperature."

"So we need to make it lighter and quieter, give more space for ammunition and keep it clean." Daphne paraphrased.

"Correct." Meyers nodded.

"Okay. What do you mean by 'operating temperature'?" Daphne asked.

"When it fires for sustain periods it can overheat. When that happens, the metals expand and they can jam stopping the weapon from working." Meyers explained.

"So we just need to keep it cool." Hermione said.

"Not exactly." Meyers shook his head. "Too cool and the oils that allow the parts to move freely will congeal and the weapon and jam."

"Is there anything that won't jam it?" Daphne queried.

"Cute." Meyers snorted. "These are well manufactured weapons, but at the rate of fire they can reach, tolerances become much tighter."

"Okay." Hermione nodded. "What do you think Daphne?"

"Well, there are cleaning enchantments, we just need tweak them to include the proper oils. I'm thinking of using environmental enchantments to maintain the weapons temperature correctly and we can use lightening and silencing runes as well. For the ammunition I think space enlargement and lightening enchantments would work." Daphne thought aloud. "Oh, unbreakable charms too."

"When you enlarge the magazine, you'll need to consider how to feed the rounds into the weapon. This weapon is belt fed so it won't be a problem but it will be for other weapons we use." Meyers warned them.

"Right." Hermione nodded. "On another note, you had grenade launchers on the guns you used the other night, could we get some empty grenades?"

"By empty you mean without the explosive charge, correct?" Meyers queried.

"Yes." Hermione nodded. "I was thinking we could load other types of things. Actually, could we get some of those guns too? They might be good to upgrade too."

"I agree, but if you're successful with this one then we may switch to these are they will be effective against a wider range of creatures. Plus we can get a wider range of ammunition." Meyers explained.

"That's good." Daphne breathed a sigh of relief. "I wasn't looking forward to enchanting a few thousand rounds of ammunition. But I like the idea of doing stuff with those grenades."

"I'll bring some blank grenades then and a few launchers too. If you can attach them to these then that would be a significant enhancement." Meyers pulled a notebook and made a couple of notations. Be very careful with the grenades, they will have the primary charge removed but they will still have the propellant."

"Thanks for the warning." Hermione replied. "We'll be careful."

"Good. I look forward to seeing the results." Meyers grinned. "Best of luck to you all."

"Thanks." Hermione said distractedly.

Daphne just gave a vague half wave with her off hand, she was already making notes.

Harry was roped in to help as a part of his Runes study, so of course Ginny followed. Hermione had a few conversations with her grandfather for more details on the machine gun, specifically what parts were actually required and how much they could modify it before the large weapon would be compromised.

Working in between everything else they had to do it took a few days but the ability to disassemble the gun and have everyone one working on a different part helped speed things up.

Meyers looked over the modified weapon and picked it up. "Whoa, that's much lighter. I noticed you've reduced the housing a lot, does that mean you've totally solved the heat issue?"

"Yes." Daphne nodded. "And that is fully loaded too. We've done some test firing and not encountered any issues, but I'm sure you're going to test it yourself."

Meyers grinned. "But of course. It's still a little on the big side, but there's only so much you can do about that. It's certainly much more portable. "

"Well, give it a try." Daphne pointed him towards the gun range they had set up.

Meyers took his place on the short range and looked around for something to brace the weapon on. "You don't have a tripod for this?"

"No, we managed to find a way to counter the recoil problem." Daphne answered. "Thanks for warning us about that by the way."

"I didn't think I needed to."Meyers replied. "How did you do it?"

"Family secret. I spent a fair bit of time in my Father's library hunting for those runes." Daphne grumbled at the memory.

"Right then. Here goes nothing." Meyers braced himself and carefully pulled the trigger.

There was a quiet crack and the gun jerked slightly and the round punched through the thin target and into the safety wall at the end of the range.

"Well, my poor aim aside, that is much better." Meyers complemented.

"Thank you." Daphne gave him a slight bow. "We did our best. We couldn't make it any quieter unfortunately."

"No, that's fine." Meyers assured the girl. "You've greatly reduced the amount of noise it makes so don't worry. If we need to make it quieter, there are attachments for the barrel. You've done really well. Now, let's see what this can really do."

Meyers pulled the trigger fully and didn't release it causing the gun to turn the normal quiet crack to blend into a continual muted roar. The target was shredded into nothingness long before the gun finally ran out of ammunition.

"Damn." Meyers grinned. "That's good. How much did you increase the magazine capacity by? 10 times or something? It didn't even get warm from all that."

"12 and a half to be exact." Daphne corrected. "So, how did we do?"

"I'm bringing all of my weapons to you before I use them if this is what you can do." Meyers complemented . "How long will it take you to upgrade enough of these for everyone?"

"A while unfortunately." Daphne replied sadly. "We can do it much faster now that we know what we're doing, but we have other projects to work on as well. Our body armour for example."

"Ah, yes. Well, do your best. These are worth waiting for." Meyers nodded. "How are you doing with the grenade launchers?"

"They were easy enough to attach." Daphne answered. "And we've managed to modify them to hold 4 grenades at a time. We are still working on alternate loads though. We've managed to get them to work with the Portable Swamps that Ginny's brothers make but that's all. It's taken a bit of work to figure out how to get them to activate when it hits something after being fired."

"That's fine. You've made progress which is the important thing." Meyers reassured her. "How much time before you have to head back to your school?"

"End of the month. And we have other things to do as well." Daphne told him. "Ginny's birthday is in a couple of days. It may not be important to you but..."

"You're still kids who should enjoy these things." Meyers interrupted. "I think we're all used to the fact you lot aren't going to follow normal procedures for most things. You made enough progress in your training that I'm not concerned. As long as you can be available for missions, it might be best to wait until you are back at school before beginning our convert missions. It will give you all better cover, as long as you aren't noticed leaving and returning to your school."

"I'm sure we can work something suitable out with that." Daphne promised.

"Good. I was concerned with working with a bunch of school girls when we first started but, quirks aside, you are some of the best I've worked with. I think this is going to be a successful joint venture." Meyers smiled.

"Thank you. I appreciate your belief in us." Daphne smiled back. "And I know the others will too."

"Where are they? If I may ask?" Meyers looked around.

"Doing various forms of training." Daphne grinned. "I got picked to meet you instead of what I might be doing otherwise."

"Do I want to know?"

"Probably, but I'm not telling." Daphne didn't stop grinning.

!HPEaSE!

Susan and Luna we're in another area of the World Room, a forest far from the gun ranges. They were putting Hermione, Hannah, Tracy and Padma through some physical training to get them moving though tight areas better in both their human and animal forms. It was as well they didn't have to remain totally undetectable as their level of sweat would have given them away.

The two witches were enjoying drilling the other four, running them through the denser part of the forest and timing them. They even spiced it up by firing weak hexes at them randomly to force them to remain fully aware of their surroundings. They knew their unfortunate trainee's would want revenge at some point though.

Harry and Ginny were running through a few practise tests that Hermione and Daphne had thrown together form them based on the fifth year Ancient Runes curriculum to help gauge their readiness for sitting their OWLS. They were doing well and were confident in their ability to pass the real test when they sat it.

That Ginny was fully occupied with Harry had also allowed the other girls to floo out quickly to ensure they all had presents for her Ginny's birthday and Hermione had stopped by the Burrow to talk to Molly about the party. After multiple letters they had agreed to hold the party there at Molly's request but only if she remained on her best behaviour. The Weasley Matriarch would be hosting members of some very influential families after all, and would have to act accordingly. Arthur had agreed to this very easily and had surprised everyone in telling Molly to agree. He may not order his wife around but had no problems holding his own when he knew his wife was out of line.

On the day of the party they all stepped through the floo to the Burrow. Harry was grinning happily at the other end having managed to remain upright without assistance. Dobby had been tasked with bringing the presents along separately. All the Weasley brothers managed to be there for the day and Ginny found herself being hoisted up on the twins shoulders as they congratulated her on surviving another year.

Ginny laughed along with everyone else as they headed outside and across the fields to the pond they usually swam in until she had enough and told the twins to set her down, nicely.

"Are you sure you don't want a swim right now?" One of the twins asked.

"It gets so hot out that you should probably keep cool."

"Mustn't get too warm, it's bad for the complexion."

Ginny rolled her eyes and snapped herself round suddenly to plant a hand on one of the twins shoulders and a foot on the other and kicked herself out of their grasp and flipped to the ground to land calmly on her feet. "You two should be careful or you'll be the ones taking a bath. You look a little grubby behind the ears and could probably use a proper wash."

"Nice moves little sister." Bill grinned from where he had his arm around Fleur.

"Thanks." Ginny smiled up at her oldest brother.

Ron had been unusually silent. Though given the summer wear of the girls it was sort of understandable. The girls, and Harry, were all wearing more modest clothing than normal, given they weren't alone, but is was still much skimpier than would normally be worn in Wizarding society.

"Harry, are you really okay wearing a dress?" Ron asked.

Harry was glad he had put a light shirt over the top of his singlet. The singlet on its own was perfectly respectable in the non-magical world but much more cleavage than would be approved of by the Weasley Matriarch. Or for Ron to be able to handle without blowing a fuse. At Ron's gaze he unconsciously pulled it closed a little more. "It's a skirt, and it's not really that much different to wearing robes. Besides, it's cooler than shorts."

"It's still girls clothes." Ron protested.

"So am I at the moment, if you hadn't noticed." Harry replied dryly.

"Yeah, why is that? You can turn into a guy right?"

"For short periods." Harry told him. "And can be a little stressful. I did a little too much training yesterday so I need to take it easy."

"How can you stand being a girl?" Ron asked.

"It's pretty easy for the most part." Harry shrugged. "Hermione and Ginny manage it without complaining."

"But they are girls. You're a guy." Ron said stubbornly.

"I'm still me." Harry shrugged. "You'd better get used to it and not stare at me. I'm going to be in this form a lot and I don't want to feel like I have to smack you every five minutes, so can you stop staring at my breasts?"

Ron's gaze jerked up. "Sorry. They're just so..."

"Stop right there Ron." Harry cut him off. "You had better get yourself under control or it's going to be hard to remain friends. I don't want to feel uncomfortable to be in the same room as you."

"But your fine with those two?" Ron jerked his head towards to two Slytherin girls talking with Bill and Charlie.

"Yes I am. They're really nice and have become really good friends. I like and care for them a lot." Harry stated firmly. "Give them a real chance."

"You're sure they aren't going to turn you over to the Death Eaters?" Ron asked.

"I KNOW they won't." Harry hoped his over emphasis would breach Ron's skull. "Honesty."

"I just don't want you putting yourself at risk for just anyone." Ron tried to justify himself.

"I appreciate that but we did that in first year for Hermione who we didn't really get on with. And second year, it's not like I really knew Ginny when I went after her in the Chamber." Harry managed to keep his eyes from rolling.

"Yeah, but they are Gryffindors."

"So was Peter Pettigrew." Harry stared Ron down. "Any you were the one who put her in that bathroom in case you'd forgotten."

"Okay, you've made your point." Ron sighed.

"I hope so." Harry looked at Ron sadly. "Daphne and Tracy, and their families, have been very supportive and helpful. They don't want Voldemort around anymore than we do. Stop painting them with the same brush as Malfoy."

"Okay." Ron submitted. "I'll do my best."

"You had better do better than that Ron." Harry stated firmly. "I won't be having this conversation with you again."

Ron gulped. He knew Harry well enough to recognise the hidden threat; if he didn't sort himself out, he wouldn't be having 'any' conversations with Harry. "Okay."

"Now, it's Ginny's birthday. Let's not ruin it." Harry turned away and headed over to join Ginny with her father.

Ron looked around at the girls who had accompanied Harry. They were all beautiful he had to admit to himself, even the Slytherins. His eyes found Hermione and he couldn't help but stare. He hadn't realised how good she could look until the Yule Ball, though she went back to normal afterwards. Now she seemed to be in a halfway state. Her hair had lost most of its bushiness and her clothing showed she had developed more since that Christmas. Maybe she might be interesting in dating him this year.

The lunch time feast was Molly's cooking at its finest. The Weasley boys had set out the tables near the pond with their usual roughhousing and the girls had volunteered to help carry out the piles of dishes Molly must have spent days preparing.

Arthur stood to speak once everyone had settled in their seats. "Well, it's wonderful day to have the whole family here together to celebrate Ginny's fifteenth birthday. And better still to have so many more new friends with us as well. I wish you the most Happy Birthday, my dear daughter, and the best of luck for your upcoming OWLS."

"You had to ruin it by mentioning the tests didn't you." One of the twins interjected only to be smacked across the back of the head by the other. "Don't interrupt. Ignore him Ginny, and Happy Birthday."

"Happy Birthday Ginny." Everyone else added their congratulations to the girl.

"Thanks. Everyone." Ginny looked around, a little misty-eyed. "I really appreciate it."

"Well, dig in everyone one. There's plenty for everyone." Molly gestured for them to start eating, then scolded the twins. "Guests first you two. Wait your turn."

The twins pouted but offered the bowls they had picked up to the others before taking their own generous portion.

Everyone had to admit that Molly's cooking was exceptional but there was no way they would finish all the food that had been prepared. They underestimated the stomach capacity of the Weasley males though as they loaded up their plates for a second time. Fortunately they all had decent manners, except Ron who got stuck at the far end of the table next to Percy.

"That was wonderful. Thank you." Harry said as he sat back, full.

The others echoed him and Molly smiled at the praise. "It's always a joy to cook for those who appreciate it. Thank you."

The group help return the empty and few partially full dishes back inside before settling in the shade of the trees at the edge of the field nearest the pond to relax.

"Zat was wonderful, zhough I still find English food a little 'eavy." Fleur commented, her accent much stronger than normal. "I zink I ate a little too much."

"Same here." Daphne agreed. "I don't get it Ginny, how did you stay so small with meal like that?"

Ginny shrugged. "I guess I take after Dad and the boys like that. They only grow upwards, not outwards."

"Lucky you." Hannah grumped. "I might have put on a couple of inches after that meal."

"Exercise takes care of that nicely." Harry teased.

"Shut up you." Hannah replied without heat as she slumped to lie flat on the ground.

Harry chuckled as he relaxed against a tree. Ginny and Hermione sat on either side on him and Daphne sat next to Ginny.

There was little conversation which soon stopped as they found themselves dozing in the cool shade of the hot summer day.

They woke an hour or so later feeling much better, though the shade was no longer as comfortable as the day reached its hottest point.

Harry stood and stretched. "I don't know about the rest of you but I need to cool off a bit."

"That is a wonderful idea." Daphne agreed. "I'm glad we put our swimsuits on before we came."

"Me too." Ginny yawned. "Race you."

They casually stripped off their outer clothes to reveal the one piece swimsuit underneath and made a dash for the pond. They jumped in noisily, waking the others.

Hermione looked at the splashing trio. "That is a wonderful idea."

Ron was treated to the sight of Hermione shedding her clothes and run across the grass in a swimsuit and jump into the pond, splashing the others. He got the best view of Hermione of his life as he realised just how much she had changed since he had met her in first year.

He was distracted immediately as Susan and Fleur joined them. Fleur had her Veela beauty which always mesmerised him and Susan's breasts were too noticeable in her swimsuit to ignore. Even the other girls were worth staring at as they eagerly joined the ones already in the pond. Ron felt jealous the Harry got to be around them so often while he was stuck here at the Burrow.

The other Weasley boys didn't need any more encouragement as they peeled off their tops and kicked off their shoes and socks to join them, making sure to splash the girls as much as possible as they dove in.

This proved to be a bad idea. Normally the Weasley boys were their own mob and had little to worry about. This time however there were nine girls and Harry, currently in his female form, to contend with. Outnumbered nearly 2 to 1 they soon found themselves overwhelmed by the return onslaught of water as the girls retaliated.

"We lost?" Charlie was surprised as he and his brothers were forced to retreat. "That's never happened before."

"We are outnumbered." Percy reasoned.

"Fleur, why are you helping them?" Bill called to his girlfriend.

Fleur just grinned as she gave Ginny a one arm hug.

"Harry, why are you on their side?" Ron protested.

"I like it better here. The company is much more pleasant." Harry grinned.

"Can't argue with that." Fred grinned. "I'm sure the view is much better over there than from here. In fact, I'm changing teams."

His attempt to swim over was stopped by a near wall of water.

"Sorry, unless you can grow breasts you can't join us." Ginny teased him.

"Forge, that is our next product." Fred said as he retreated.

"Don't you dare." Harry shouted.

"Try and stop us." George laughed.

Harry focused and sent a spiralling channel of water straight at the twins that drove them back to the far edge of the pond.

"Ok. You win." Fred coughed as they sat in the shallow edge.

"Note to us, don't make Harry angry." George said.

"It's hazardous to our health." Fred finished.

"Isn't that cheating?" Charlie commented, though his was impressed by Harry's control. "And how did you do that without a wand?"

"Cheating? Against the twins? Impossible." Ginny answered for Harry, ignoring the second question entirely. "They cheat in everything, that's just evening things up."

That set everyone laughing and they began playing more sedately, except for the occasion of one of the Weasley boys throwing another around.

Arthur laughed to himself as he remained in the shade watching his children and their friends play. These are the days he longed for and would remember. The days of happiness without the threat of war.

He had to block Molly when she return carrying towels though.

"What are they wearing?" Molly huffed.

"More than they were when we visited them." Arthur replied firmly. "Just back off and let them have their fun. They aren't doing anything wrong."

Molly huffed again but sat quietly next to her husband.

Arthur actually had to hold his wife to keep her from making a scene when the girls started emerging from the water to sprawl on the towels in the sun. Not that he was too surprised. The girls in their fitting swimwear was a distracting sight. The older of his sons were behaving but Ron looked like he was going to melt. The combination of the Veela and three very busty girls was far too much for him to handle and he was now at risk of choking on his own drool. At least he wasn't acting out and embarrassing himself completely.

It was later that afternoon when Molly vanished back inside and brought out the cake, starting a rousing chorus of 'Happy Birthday'. Ginny laughed as the cake was set down before her so she could blow out the candles.

"Make a wish." Hermione grinned at the younger girl.

Ginny grinned back before her face turned serious in though. She looked around at all the faces smiling and laughing. Her family and her friends. No, her new family. She loved her parents and brothers but as she looked at the faces of Harry, Hermione, Daphne and the others she realised that they were no longer her friends. They were now her family.

'I don't want to lose any of my family but I want to move forward with my new family. I've never been happier since I've been with them. They are my future. My wish is to always be with all of them.' Ginny smiled to herself before inhaling deeply and blowing out all the candles in one go.

As the last candle went out everyone burst into cheers. Ginny just smiled to herself. Her silent declaration had filled her with a new resolve, but also an inner peace as well. She accepted the knife and cut the first piece. A very large piece. Putting it on a plate she cut it into nine and offered them to her new family before taking her own. She doubted any of them understood the symbolism but it was important to her.

After everyone had finished their cake Ginny found all her presents handed to her. She looked over the pile and thanked everyone passionately before beginning to open them. Ginny loved everything she had been given but she would have to admit that when she found a nondescript box with a small but familiar logo she gasped. She carefully lifted the lid of the box and shifted the tissue paper aside to pull out the dress.

"Oh. No. You didn't." Ginny gasped. "Harry. You shouldn't have."

"Given how beautiful you'll look in it, how could I not?" Harry grinned at her. "I'm glad you like it."

"Like it." Ginny hugged the dress gently. "I love it. Thank you Harry. Thank you so very much."

Ginny carefully returned the dress to the box and set it aside so she could lunge at Harry, knocking him over as she hugged him.

"I can't thank you properly right now." Ginny whispered in his ear. "But tonight, I'm going to show you just how much this means to me."

Harry was bright red as Ginny released him and got up.

"I guess we know what her favourite gift was." Fred grinned.

"Yeah. It looks like its Harry." George chuckled.

"Well, we can't argue with that." Fred.

"No, but I wouldn't mind getting that close to Harry right now either." George.

"He does look soft and cuddly, doesn't he." Fred.

"Makes you want to hug him tightly." George.

"Don't even think about it." It wasn't Harry who spoke. No one seemed to know where the angry voice came from.

No one saw who cast the stinging hexes that had the twins yelping and grabbing their backsides either.

"We surrender." The twins chorused immediately.

"Just like that?" Percy complained. "We have to put up with you two for years and they just get off without anything?"

"You guys we can handle. Them, on the other hand, scare us to death." Fred admitted.

"They have brains." George.

"Cunning." Fred

"Inventiveness." George.

"Plus we all know what Ginny is capable of." Fred.

"And then there is Harry who fights Dark Lords." George.

"Dragons." Fred.

"Basilisks." George.

"And not forgetting that he can bust our wards apart in seconds." Fred.

"Or his Marauder Legacy." George.

"So you're saying you're scared of a bunch of girls." Charlie laughed.

"Wouldn't you be?" Fred fired back.

Charlie refused to answer that, which got everyone else laughing.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a similar fashion, fun and laughter, until it came time to leave.

"You can stay here if you want." Arthur told Ginny gently.

"I know, but it's not where I belong anymore." Ginny replied as she gave her father a huge hug.

"Oooff. You've gotten really strong." Arthur gasped for breath a little. "I think I can see what you mean though. Be good and stay safe. I love you Ginny."

"Love you too Dad." Ginny replied giving him another hug that left him breathless.

Molly got the same treatment, it was something of a novelty for her to be the one out of breath.

"Thanks for the great party Mum. Bye." Ginny said as she released her before stepping through the floo.

After the last of the girls had stepped through the floo Arthur turned to his wife. "She has grown so much this summer."

"She has." Molly looked down. "It's painful to admit that she has done better away from her home. Did you feel how strong she was?"

"I did." Arthur felt his ribs. "I think she managed to avoid breaking anything. She told me that she had found her place. Give how happy she is I can't keep her from it."

"But she is still a child." Molly protested. "She's too young."

"No. I don't think she is." Arthur sighed sadly. "She has grown up far faster than she should have had too, but we have entered a time of war and she has little choice, especially given her choice of friends."

"You mean Harry." Molly nodded. "That poor boy. He doesn't deserve to be put through this."

"No, he doesn't. But he'll be fine." Arthur grinned suddenly. "He has the Weasley's with him."

Molly managed a short chuckle. "Nice try."

!HPEaSE!

Back home in the living area upstairs in the Extension Ginny thanked everyone again for their presents, hugging each of them in turn as she did so. They sat around, Ginny snuggled up to Harry's side, and talked about random things, enjoying the pleasure of a normal happy day to its fullest.

Ginny decided to call it a night early. Not that she was tired, but rather than she wanted time for 'other things'. The others girls immediately recognised the hidden meaning and bid her goodnight, returning to their own rooms.

Hermione smiled as she looked the red-head over. She had whispered to Harry that he should probably take a quick shower as they headed back to their rooms and waited while Ginny did the same. Once the Ginny was out and dry she quickly helped her get ready to visit Harry.

"You look beautiful." Hermione said as she gave her a quick hug and pushed her out their bedroom door.

"Thanks." Ginny smiled back happily before vanishing around the corner and slipping through the neighbouring door to Harry's room.

Hermione wasn't alone long as Susan, Daphne and Padma slipped in the room and sat down on the bed next to her.

"So, are you okay?" Daphne asked. "We know you've stepped up your relationship with him since his birthday."

"I'm fine." Hermione replied and blinked as she realised that she had spoken the honest truth. "I will miss being with Harry but Ginny deserves some time alone with him."

"True." Daphne nodded. "How much have the two of you done with him together? If you don't mind me asking?"

"We haven't done more than kissing him still." Hermione replied. "Ginny hasn't been ready for more yet and I haven't wanted to make her feel uncomfortable by getting too intense with Harry in front of her. We have both been naked in front of her though so she's used to that."

"Must be awkward." Susan commented.

"Not really. I don't have to worry if I've somehow become uncovered during the night." Hermione grinned. "In fact I stopped wearing things most of the time."

"You've gotten pretty bold." Susan grinned back.

Hermione just nodded happily.

"You're pretty quiet Padma?" Daphne commented.

Padma nodded but was silent for a minute more, organising her thoughts. "Which of you are intending to stay with Harry, as his wife?"

"Why are you asking?" Susan looked surprised. "And why just us?"

"Because you three and Ginny are the closest to him. Hannah and Tracy are close behind but I know they aren't ready to make a decision yet." Padma answered. "I thought I might sound you out first."

"I've not decided yet." Hermione said. "Not for certain, but probably. Why?"

"I've finished modifying that ritual to help bond us, the one that requires our virginal blood." Padma explained. "But the way it is it can only be done once and Harry will be included."

"Have you decided?" Daphne asked.

"Yes." Padma surprised them. "I will stay, for practical reasons as well as romantic."

"Do you mind explaining?" Hermione asked.

"Harry is the best match I am likely to find. I am developing real feelings for him and know I will have a good life with him." Padma told them. "I can accept that by fully accepting the bond and increasing it via this ritual there could be an artificially created element to my emotions but as they will still feel real I can accept that. For me, the only decision I have left is when and how we marry."

"I'm a little concerned about your motives." Hermione gave the Ravenclaw a firm look.

"As I said, I have real feelings for him and I wish to remain with him. I am yet to discuss them with him and see if he feels the same and is ready to commit himself to me." Padma explained. "I would never say this and you'd better not either, but if I don't marry Harry then I will most likely have a very unpleasant marriage to an older man who will have little respect for me to look forward to. I believe you can understand I would prefer to avoid that. But I am not forcing Harry into anything."

Hermione relaxed. "Okay. Yeah, I can understand. I wouldn't want that for you either. Thank you for not pressuring Harry with that."

"He will probably figure that out when you bring up marriage with him, if he hasn't already." Daphne commented.

Hermione nodded.

"I am not going to bring it up, not yet anyway." Padma told them. "However strong my feelings are for him, I think it would be best that Harry broach that subject with me when he's ready. He doesn't need any more pressure on him."

"True." Susan nodded. "But we need to think about it, don't we?"

"Yes." Hermione sighed. "Because we have to decide if we are willing to commit ourselves to Harry when he will be with multiple women. We need to know we can accept each other in our lives as well as Harry's."

"Exactly." Padma nodded. "No decisions are looming but they need to be considered, especially given how our relationships are progressing."

Hermione found herself the centre of attention and blushed. "What about your other research?"

"I ran with Harry's idea of creating permanent rune chambers for each of us that we can prepare ahead of time and use if we get enough warning." Padma answered. "I have the details of the rooms and will start working on the specifics of the rituals themselves. We can look into getting the rooms built in the meantime."

"Good." Daphne nodded." Nice change of subject too, Hermione."

That got a chuckle until Padma spoke again.

"There is a problem with creating the rooms." The Indian girl said. "We have to minimise or avoid magic for the construction of those rooms for the best effect. We won't be able to build them anywhere in the Extension or World Room due to the ambient magic. The Wards might be too strong as it is."

"Oh. That's going to some planning." Daphne frowned.

"Yes. Perhaps a non-magical company could be used for the construction." Hermione suggested. "Harry can place fewer but more restrictive wards; it's not like we will be showing people around there anyway."

"True." Susan nodded. "Tricky, but we can make it work. Harry might have a property that could be used."

"We can ask him to look in the morning." Daphne agreed.

"Anyway, Susan, Daphne, you two didn't share how you feel about Harry." Hermione turned the focus to the Slytherin and Hufflepuff. "Susan, I know you were looking at becoming more intimate with him."

Padma grinned and lent forward, interested in the answer.

Susan blushed. "Yes I am. I'm thinking about how to go about it though. Daphne?"

"Nice, throw me to the lions.' Daphne protested.

"Well, one lion at least." Padma chuckled.

"I do want to be closer to him." Daphne admitted. "I'm just a little scared. After that mix up in the tunnels I'm really worried about making the same mistake again. I mean I want that but what if it's too soon again."

"That must be hard." Hermione emphasised. "The only thing I can suggest is to take it slowly until you know for sure."

"Yeah." Daphne sighed. "It's hard because I'm sure I'll really like it when I'm ready. I'm normally so confident about things. To be so unsure about something makes me feel rather awkward."

"Oh." Susan leant over and hugged her.

"Thanks." Daphne leant into the hug.

"You know, if you want to test the waters there is something you can try." Hermione moved next to the busty Slytherin.

"What?" Daphne asked.

Susan moved to see Hermione more clearly, very interested.

"Well, if you get Harry kissing your neck and gently move so he works lower." Hermione began pulling the neck of Daphne's night dress down slowly, speaking seductively. "You encourage him to keep moving lower like this until you reach your comfort level."

Daphne flushed heavily. "Uh, okay. I'll see how I feel."

"Good." Hermione sat back as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

"So that's how you do it." Susan commented to herself before blushing as she realised she had spoken aloud. "Uh. Umm."

Hermione laughed. "I guess you're going to be having some fun then."

Susan fought down her embarrassment to grin back. "I'm hoping too."

The girls laughed.

!HPEaSE!

-Lemon Warning-

Harry was still attacking his hair with a towel and comb to get it back in order after washing it when Ginny entered.

"Oh, hey Ginny. Whaaaahahahaha." Harry half turned his head as she entered and then jerked as he saw what. "Ginny, what are you wearing?"

Ginny smiled at him. "Just a little something for a special occasion. Do you like it?"

Harry looked her over. She was wearing a lacy green camisole with matching panties. Very lacy, nearly see through even.

"Yeah. You look great. Really sexy. Umm, why?" Harry wasn't sure if he should be looking at her or not.

"I told you I'd thank you for the dress." Ginny smiled at him as she climbed onto the bed and helped him finish off his hair. "Now, give me my handsome man to ravish."

Harry smiled back and shifted to his male for and let Ginny turn him round to begin ravishing him. She eagerly moved into his lap and began pulling at his singlet as they exchanged kisses working their way around each other's faces and necks. Ginny pushed him flat so she could layer kisses down his chest before returning to his lips.

Ginny shifted in his lap and gasped as she found herself rubbing against his hardening length. She smiled down at Harry lustily and repeated the motion.

"Mmmmmmh. That feels so good." Ginny moaned.

Harry didn't get a chance to reply before she kissed him again. She moved on to kissing his cheek and neck, slowly working lower. Harry couldn't hold in his cry of pleasure at the attention. He was losing himself to the emotions Ginny was evoking in him.

It was at this point that Harry lost control of his transformation but that didn't seem to stop Ginny as she kept kissing his chest. Harry's moans increased, his breasts were far more sensitive than his male chest and Ginny's kisses were extremely stimulating. He ran his fingers into her hair and arched himself up, pushing into her mouth gently.

Ginny move up to kiss him on the lips before gently touching her tongue them. Harry parted his lips and gently moved his tongue against hers causing her moan in pleasure. Ginny pulled back, sitting up on him. Harry followed and they kissed again, Ginny gently cupping his back with both hands. Harry moved across her cheek and down her neck.

This is where things when wrong. One of the straps on Ginny's camisole had fallen off her shoulder and had been pulled it down slightly during their movements. Not much, but enough that as Harry moved down from her neck to chest he could kiss on her breast fully. Ginny initially leant into it but it soon dawned on her exactly where she was being kissed and she freaked out and fled the room.

Harry sat their blinking at her sudden disappearance before he realised exactly what he had done.

"Oh Merlin, what did I do?" Harry whispered as tears began to fall.

!HPEaSE!

Hermione looked up from her book as Ginny ran in. "Ginny? What happened?"

Ginny stood in front of her friend, unsure what to do. "I... We... Uh..."

"Sit down." Hermione pulled her friend down to sit next to her. "Talk to me. Did you do something? Or Harry?"

"Um. Harry kissed my breast." Ginny forced herself to say.

"How? On you nipple or just on the flesh you've got out now?" Hermione 's expression demanded an answer.

Ginny flushed as she glanced down to see her camisole was still down slightly on one side and quickly pulled the strap back up. "Just on flesh."

"Did he pull it down at all?"

"No. I think it fell while..." Ginny froze and finished in a whisper. "I was kissing his breasts."

Hermione stood and pulled Ginny up. "Come on, we are sorting this out now. Harry is going to be freaking out right now."

Ginny's eyes widened impossibly and hurried forward, dragging her friend along with her.

Ginny saw Harry look up as she entered and the expression on his face tore at her heart. She let go of Hermione's hand to dash across the room and launch herself on to the bed, scramble across it and bury her face into Harry's neck as she hugged him hard.

"I'm sorry Harry. You didn't do anything wrong." Ginny spoke in his ear. "We just got a little carried away and I got scared. It's not your fault. Please forgive me for running."

Harry sat there, frozen, before slowly wrapping his arms around the younger girl. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have kissed you there."

"It's okay. It shocked me a little but it wasn't bad. Just a little more than I was ready for." Ginny replied. "The only thing you have to apologise for is being so good that I lost myself in the moment."

"You'd better not apologise for that." Hermione interjected as she joined them , hugging Harry from behind. "I like that about you."

Ginny giggled. "True. It's just a bit of a shock if you're not expecting it. I hadn't planned on going that far."

"Sorry." Harry repeated.

"Don't be. I was enjoying myself too much. You shouldn't need to apologise for that. Besides, it's not like I wasn't doing that and more to you."

"Yeah, but I'm used to that, thanks to Hermione." Harry countered.

"So it's my fault now?" Hermione teased.

"No, I didn't say that." Harry tried to turn to look at her.

"I didn't say you did." Hermione tickled his ribs a little to get him to lighten up. "But it is really. I got you used to doing that sort of thing with me and this is the first time you've gotten serious with someone else. Since none of the others are ready for this level of intimacy, it was bound to happen. I didn't think of this either. I thought you would be holding back because it wasn't me."

"Huh?" Harry was a little confused.

"I remembered how you were unsure about being with all of us at once and thought that you might feel like you were cheating on me by getting that close to another girl." Hermione explained.

"Uh, I wasn't was I?" Harry seemed worried all of a sudden. "We already talked about that and you said it was fine, given how things were with the oath and all."

"That's right. You did nothing wrong at all." Hermione replied. "I just thought that you might worry about that. Looks like you did things a little too right instead."

"I'll say." Ginny sighed. "I was totally lost in what we were doing. I didn't even realise until afterwards that I had been kissing your breasts."

"And sucking them too." Harry added quietly. "I love that."

"I guess I had better get used to that then." Ginny sighed. "I liked the way you responded."

"I'm more sensitive there as a girl." Harry explained. "But I'm not forcing you or anything."

"I know, I just want to enjoy things as well." Ginny gave a wiry grin. "And it looks like they aren't going anywhere."

"Sorry about that." Harry said.

"Nah, its fine. It's not like you got a choice in this so I can't complain about it." Ginny waved his concern away. "I just need more time to get used to things. But can the two of you promise me something?"

"Me as well?" Hermione was surprised. "What?"

"I know you two have been toning things down around me. Please stop. Stop hiding it from me. I'm a part of this too." Ginny told them. "Hermione, you've always been ready for more than me, right from the beginning. So you've moved further ahead of me, please don't cut me out."

"Umm. Hermione?" Harry wasn't sure how to respond.

"Okay." Hermione said after studying her house mate carefully. "Just remember that this was your choice. We can get pretty carried away with each other and I think you might be in as much danger from me as Harry."

Ginny pulled back a little in shock. "Really?"

"Susan was watching me and Harry the other morning and it didn't bother me in the slightest." Hermione paused to organise her words. "I think, because I'm more used to you being around, that I, we, might ... involve you if we get carried away. And we like to get carried away."

"Oh." Ginny sat back. "Okay. That's fair warning. I'll be careful. At the very least I know to be wary of you as well as Harry."

Hermione blushed. "Yeah, I think you might need to be. But not today. It's your birthday and, for the next... 23 minutes, we are at your pleasure."

"Well, I think I want Harry to kiss me some more." Ginny smiled.

Harry smiled and shifted back to his male form as Ginny moved to straddle his lap again. Hermione pulled back to let the two have some space. Ginny was relaxing after her scare and was getting into the mood again.

Hermione couldn't help but smile at the pair. She lay down next to them and just watched them quietly. She had seen them making out before in their private time on the island by the waterfall in the World Room but, now more than ever, she found herself surprised at the lack of jealousy she felt. What she felt now was the desire to join in. But this was Ginny's day...

Hermione smiled and moved behind Ginny to massage her back gently. Ginny couldn't believe how good she felt being the centre of attention of the two people she was closest too. She was now totally relaxed after her earlier shock and really getting into her snogging with Harry. She was keeping it mouth to mouth deliberately to prevent another accident but that didn't stop her enjoying herself immensely.

Hermione was doing her best to massage Ginny's back properly but was keeping an eye on the time. As midnight came she grinned and whispered in Ginny's ear. "It's after midnight and I want to play too."

Ginny pulled back to look at Hermione and her eyes widened as Hermione easily stripped off her nightwear and moved around her to capture Harry's lips in her own kiss. Ginny pouted and pulled Harry back so she could kiss him herself.

Hermione chuckled and let Ginny have a turn before pulling Harry back and planting her breasts into his mouth. Harry needed no further encouragement and Hermione was quickly moaning in pleasure with her hand buried in the hair at the back of his head.

Ginny watched the pair, her jaw dropping in surprise at Hermione's openness. Hermione finally pulled back and push Harry flat and tapped his chest. Harry relaxed and returned to his female form. Ginny couldn't believe what she was seeing as Hermione easily took Harry's nearest breast in her mouth and began sucking at the nipple causing Harry to gasp in pleasure. Ginny found herself staring at Harry's other breasts and tentatively reached out to touch it.

Harry responded to the attention on his other breast by catching the hand and pressing it firmly into the soft flesh. Hermione pulled back to see Ginny's tentative attention to Harry and placed her hand on top of the pair already there and used her other hand to working the breast she had been kissing.

Ginny watched how Harry's breast flowed under her fingers as both Harry's and Hermione's hands encouraged her boldness but that was still no match for Hermione who was now leant over Harry and kissing him passionately. Ginny looked at them and reluctantly pulled her hand free and moved aside. She was at her limit and knew that if she didn't stop now she would be out of her depth.

Hermione easily moved atop Harry and began grinding her groin into Harry's causing them both to increase their cries of pleasure. Ginny found herself staring as the pair just lost themselves in each other.

Ginny couldn't believe how into each other they were as their hands ended up between the other legs, fingers disappearing inside. She understood now just why Susan would have been unable to stop watching them, she couldn't look away either as their cries increased until they suddenly became shouts of ecstatic release before slowly subsiding.

Hermione smiled into Harry's eyes. "That was wonderful, though I would've liked my breasts to have a little more attention."

"Sorry. Let me make it up to you." Harry put his words into action as he lowered his head into her cleavage.

Hermione sighed in pleasure and gently moved so she was lying on her side with Harry now sucking on one of her nipples. Hermione gently stroked Harry's head and blushed as her eyes met Ginny's.

"Wow." Ginny said. "That was amazing to watch."

"Thanks." Hermione smiled. "It's a little odd with an audience, though I'm surprised by being excited about it. How do you feel about it?"

"Turned on." Ginny admitted. "I'm not sure how I'd fit in though."

"In my place, or joining us?" Hermione teased a little.

"Either." Ginny admitted.

"Just take your time, with either." Hermione looked down at Harry. "There's no rush. We just take our time and work it out as we go. I think the thing is to be willing to try and trust each other enough to make mistakes without getting hurt, or hurting each other."

Ginny nodded and watched Harry. "What's that like?"

"Really nice. Not as arousing after an orgasm as it is before. Still, it's really relaxing." Hermione shifted as Harry moved to give attention to her other breast and sighed again. "Really relaxing."

Ginny watched. With Harry now giving attention to Hermione's lower breast, the higher one was now bare for her to see. "Is it really that nice?"

Hermione nodded. "Yeah."

"And you do this to Harry too?"

Hermione nodded again. "You saw me earlier. I actually enjoy doing that too. It's nice to bury yourself there."

Hermione smiled suddenly and shifted slightly again. "It relaxes Harry too. He just fell asleep. I'm pretty much asleep too. Night Ginny."

"Night." Ginny replied.

Hermione's eyes closed and her breathing clamed as sleep claimed her quickly too. Ginny was left watching them both; naked atop the covers and still wrapped in each other's embrace. Ginny figured they would get cold like that and crawled around them and pulled the covers free. With the size of the massive bed there was plenty of unused covers that could be pulled over the top of the sleeping pair, with room for herself as well.

The covers organised, Ginny moved in to cuddle into Harry's back but didn't lay down fully. With Harry's head level with Hermione chest, the covers slanted over them so both their heads were uncovered. That also mean that Hermione's breast was still visible to Ginny. The red head kept noticing the glistening moisture on the nipple from where Harry had been sucking it.

Ginny shook her head. She was not going to fixate on the breast of her best friend; it was bad enough that she had been kissing Harry's breasts when they had gotten carried away she wasn't going to add Hermione's breasts to the lists.

Ginny forced herself to roll over but couldn't get the sight of Hermione stuffing her breast into Harry's mouth or sucking on Harry's breast herself. Hermione had no hesitation; instead she found pleasure in both acts.

Ginny found herself pulling her camisole down to look at her own breasts. Would she enjoy Harry sucking and kissing them as much as Hermione did? Ginny covered her breasts again. She wasn't sure what to think. Sleep was a long time coming, but her dreams were filled with passion.


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Notes**

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year and I'd like to add my best wishes to all the others you have received.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I always appreciate honest feedback.

I've had a couple of recurring themes in the reviews I've been getting:

Will I finish the story? YES. It may take a while as I don't want to rush and stuff everything up but I have every intention of finishing this story, so bare with me

Why do I use male pronouns for Harry? There had been a few people who have found this confusing and I apologise for that but this is how I've chosen to frame this story. The foundation for this is that Harry still identifies himself as a man, regardless of some different body parts. Harry's self identity hasn't changed so his form of address, by those who know the situation, also hasn't changed. That's not to say that some confusion won't occur...

Hope those help. Thanks again everyone for sticking with me.

**Chapter 30**

Ginny didn't get much time to ponder her situation, but she did get more comfortable with the odd threesome she had joined with Harry and Hermione. The passion the older teens shared was intense and Ginny found herself getting carried away with them. She still hadn't crossed any new boundaries with her own acts but now she could easily chase Harry's tongue around with her own while Hermione was attached to one of his breasts. Ginny still found it arousing to just sit back a watch the pair let themselves succumb to their passions and just bury themselves in the other.

Their Hogwarts letter finally made an appearance shortly after Ginny's birthday, delayed by everything that had happened during the end of the previous school year and over the summer. They made a quick trip to Diagon Alley, they had too much on to make a fun outing of it. Harry had a couple of interesting experiences though. Firstly the treatment, and the treatment of the girls to a lesser extent, he received from the goblins in Gringotts was far more respectful than normal. Even the goblins on guard took a moment to offer them a brief salute. The second one was in Madam Malkin where he had to get both the female and male uniforms. Not that it lasted long; they had to return to Hermione's and get back to work.

With Harry's, Hermione's, Daphne's and Ginny's success at enchanting the non-magical weapon they had more to do. Everyone one needed multiple guns, plus a harness to carry then and additional ammunition. The twins had managed to create additional 40mm grenade round types. So far they had rounds that would release a blast of stunning energy, a sticky gel that was worse to deal with than the portable swamp until it dried and locked the captives in place. They also modified them to work with their prank fireworks that would duplicate under any attempt to get rid of them.

Harry was working hard between everything he needed to enchant, his training and his studying. Too hard some of the girls felt. At least he wasn't driving himself into the ground like he had been after they had found the bodies in Malfoy Manor. Still, he had little time to spend with them and they didn't like it, although they understood it and didn't pressure him on it. Hermione's plan to each take turns sharing his bed a night helped. Even though none of the others were even close to sharing the same level of intimacy with him as she was, having the time to be close and talk to him was just what they needed.

The Special Forces team were getting more and more confident in the combined force. Harry and the girls were picking up their training fast and there was the fluidity in the combined teams movements that was needed for the team to work. All that they needed now was for the enchantments on their equipment to be finished.

"I'm glad to hear that." Amelia nodded happily during a meeting late in August. "How long before you finish everything?"

"Too long for my taste." Harry grumped. "I don't know. Not before we go back to school in any case. It could be another month. It's not so much the gear, it's the armour that's going to take ages."

"That is concerning." Amelia sighed. "There is too much action going on in the background; too many questions with no answers."

"Did you find out where all those magical creatures came from?" Daphne asked.

"Yeah, sort of." Amelia groaned. "The department that is supposed to keep an eye on them is one of those minor departments that was staffed by idiots under Fudge's regime. I think Riddle has been getting his overseas recruits to bring some along with them as well but we still can't confirm it. As much as some of the foreign governments may say they are doing their best to keep such things under control, I doubt it. I'm sure they will do a much better job in preventing their return though."

"So they're using this as an opportunity to get rid of their unwanted element." Susan pulled a face.

"That seems to be the case. Add that to the legacy of incompetence that was promoted under Fudge's leadership and we have a dangerous situation. Things like that dragon that was taken, the one you killed, the head of the Reserve had reports of unauthorised activity that was never passed on. What's worse is that we have no idea if there are any other dragons missing." Amelia rubbed at her face tiredly.

"I don't envy you." M commented. "I would hate to have to deal that the level of incompetence you're suffering. The problem is the amount of suffering that will be inflicted upon the innocent in the process. Fudge really fudged everything up."

That got a brief laugh from everyone.

"Where are you in your training?" Amelia looked around at the Special Forces group and Harry and his girls. "How much longer until you're finished?"

Harry looked at Mason.

Mason nodded and answered for the group. "I'm happy with where we are, we are much further along that I could ever have expected. Certainly much further along than any other trainees I've ever seen.

"But we still have training to do. I want to do some Aerial Insertion Training, but we can't do that in the World Room."

"That may be useful." M agreed.

"Thank you." Mason gave a single nod. "They are also still finishing off their equipment. It would be remiss of us to go into battle underequipped."

"We have a few other ideas we want to work on as well." Harry added. "More for us than the non-magical people, but if they work then it will be advantageous for us."

"How long?" Amelia asked.

"Maybe a month." Harry glanced at Mason.

Mason nodded as well. "I don't think we really need the Insertion Training, but I think it would help. I also think it would be good to teach them to use a Laser Targeter. With Meyers being cleared on a couple of fighter jets we would be stupid not to take advantage of it."

"True. I'll see about allocating some suitable equipment; though justifying it will be entertaining." M replied.

"I want to perform my own assessment of Harry and his team." Amelia added. "I need to see firsthand just what level you're all at. I'll decide just what I want from this team afterwards."

"Okay." Harry nodded, a little nervous at the unexpected test. "Umm. On a side note, who would we talk to about sitting our OWLS for Ancient Runes?"

"I'll sort that out for you." Amelia replied.

"Is there anything else?" M asked looking around.

"I don't think so." Harry glanced at the girls sitting either side on him and got negative responses.

!HPEaSE!

"Now that the full team meeting is out of the way. Where are we at?" Harry asked the girls as he settled into his seat in their private garden.

They had gotten the afternoon to themselves and took the opportunity to get some sun while they got a more personal update from each other.

"I think I have the Ritual Runes sorted for us." Padma started. "How are things going with the Chambers?"

"Oh, bugger." Harry shut his eyes tightly and slumped. "I'm really sorry but I completely forgot about that. We've just had so much happening I lost track."

"It's okay." Padma smiled. "We've all been busy, it's not surprising some things have fallen by the wayside."

"I don't recall you lot having forgotten something." Harry protested.

"Try us not having been caught out yet." Tracy grinned. "What's the plan for that?"

"It's probably for the best." Padma added. "I found a mistake in my initial plans. I forgot that we need a specific type of rock to line the Chambers. I doubt anyone but the goblins could source it. Do you at least know if you have a suitable section?"

There was a long pause as Harry racked his memory. "Only one and that's Privet Drive. As interesting as it would be to see their faces when a troop of goblins march through, I'm not sure it's the best location. Actually, the Wards Dumbledore and the goblins put up might be too much as it is. I think I might need to find a completely new section."

"So who do we talk to about that?" Daphne asked.

"Dad would know." Hermione answered. "There's not much time before school starts though so it's going to be tricky."

"Do we at least know what sort of property we are looking for?" Hannah asked.

"Yes, perhaps Hermione's father would be willing to look for us." Daphne suggested. "If he can find us a list of properties to look at, filter the list down to potentials."

"True." Susan nodded. "We're going to be in and out of Hogwarts a fair bit this year with everything so we could squeeze in a few visits I'm sure."

"So, again, what are we looking for?" Hannah asked.

Harry suddenly found everyone looking at him. "Umm. I'm not sure."

"That's helpful." Tracy teased him.

"It shouldn't be too hard." Hermione prompted. "We know the sizes of the Chambers so we just need a bigger section to build on or a property that we can convert."

"It's not that simple. Is this just for the Chambers? Do we care if it's close to other houses or is it better to be more isolated. Are we going to live there or use it as a base of operations? Or do we want a base there just in case things go badly?"

Hermione blinked.

"This isn't just a simple decision for us." Harry told her. "I appreciate your thoughts, Hermione, yours and everyone else's and I do listen but you can't just decide everything. You may be right more often than not but you can't take the half the decision away from me and the rest of us.

Hermione paled. "Oh, Merlin. I'm sorry Harry. I didn't realise I was doing that to you. To all of you. I'm just so used to... well... I'm used to a Harry that needs prodding to do his homework. You've changed so much this summer but it's so easy to fall back into old habits. I'm really sorry. I'll do better."

"I think all of us have to make adjustments." Tracy said quietly. "We all are stepping into something completely new. It's just that for us it's so totally new that we had no choice. For you, being at your home with your friends it's easier to slip back into old habits."

Hermione nodded and dashed at her eyes quickly to hide her tears. "I'm still sorry."

"We know." Harry moved to hug her. "We all make mistakes. It's okay."

Hermione nodded. "Thanks."

"Let's keep going." Susan said. "How are we going on the other things?"

"We've started working on the armour." Daphne told everyone. "It's slow going but we are making progress. The upside is that we'll have all hard work done, we just need the armour and Harry to enchant it."

"Sorry I'm taking so long." Harry apologised. "I seem to be the bottleneck here."

"Harry, come over here so I and smack you upside the head for being silly." Tracy sighed. "We all know you are working as fast as you can. It's a miracle that you can even enchant that hide in the first place."

Harry blushed but held his place and Tracy grinned at him.

"If Tracy is done playing around." Hannah hid her chuckle. "We've got a good selection of healing potions now and we have some Polyjuice brewing; that one will be ready just before we head back to school, thanks to Hermione."

"She does have some previous experience with that one." Harry laughed.

"Yes, and I assure you that I will make sure not to use animal hairs ever again." Hermione flushed with embarrassment.

"But you looked so cute and fluffy." Harry teased her.

Hermione poked him in the ribs as the other girls laughed.

"Once was more than enough." Hermione stated firmly. "Never again."

"Are there any other potions that could be useful?" Luna asked. "Veritaserum maybe. I'm sure I've heard of a potion to give you luck too."

"Good ideas," Tracy sighed, "but way above our level. We'd be more likely to kill ourselves making them."

"We'll work our way up to them but I doubt we'll be able to any time soon." Hannah added. "The safest option would be to get a Potions Master to make them for us."

"Plus potions like Veritaserum are controlled by the Ministry." Susan added. "We'd probably be able to get permission though so it would be best to just ask Auntie about them."

"True." Daphne nodded. "That would be easier, but it's good to make our own. That way no one knows what we have."

"Always the sneaky one." Ginny teased her friend.

"Of course." Daphne stated. "I'm a true Slytherin after all. It's what I bring to this group, like you bring your creativity and directness. It's why we work so well together; we balance each other out."

"I agree with that." Harry agreed. "You two have made a brilliant team right from the beginning."

"Thanks." The two girls smiled at him warmly.

"How about the other equipment?" Luna asked.

"We're making progress. We should have everything before we head back to Hogwarts." Hermione answered. "The only outstanding things should be our armour. Unless you, or one of the others, has another idea..."

Hermione glanced around the group but the thoughtful faces didn't offer any other suggestions.

"Okay. What do we do for the rest of the day?"

"I vote for taking it easy." Tracy offered. "We've been training hard and resting is as important as training."

"I agree." Padma spoke up. "We do need to take it easy. Harry, would you please take a walk with me?"

Harry blinked at Padma's unexpected boldness. "Umm. Okay. Sure, the World Room as usual?"

"Please." Padma stood. "If you will all excuse us."

Hermione actually grinned broadly. "Of course, enjoy your walk."

Padma held out a hand to Harry who stood and helped her up. "Thank you."

Hand in hand they walked out of the clearing to the World Room.

"It's nice she's getting a little bolder." Susan smiled.

"What about you?" Hermione teased.

"I'll make my move when I'm ready." Susan relaxed back into her chair. "It's a little bigger than taking a walk after all."

!HPEaSE!

They got back into their training the next day. Training of a different sort. Instead of being in the World Room they had gone to the same camp they had attacked during the evaluation exercise. It had undergone a few changes since then. Several new items had been added, including a helicopter.

The Wizarding girls stared at the large military transport machine, it was something totally new to them and they couldn't figure out how it could fly.

They spend the day learning how to rappel down ropes, first from the watch towers and later from the helicopter itself. That was followed by a day of rapid deployment training where they would be flown to a location and rappel down, covering each other, while select members of the Special Forces would shot at them with paint bullets.

They added their own magical twist by launching several of them on brooms from the passenger area of the chopper to cover the rest. The helicopter itself surprised them by its speed, being able to outrun even the Firebolts at top speed.

This was followed up by skydiving training, learning how to fold the parachutes, learning the pose needed when jumping and pulling the ripcord. Their first real jumps were from the helicopter with a cord latched between the ripcord and the helicopter to pull the cord for them. Hermione wasn't happy with this but stuck with it. Daphne shocked them all with her enthusiasm after her first jump.

It wasn't long before they were performing higher jumps with longer freefall. Hermione finally managed to get over her fear somewhat and relax a little. Daphne lost all her composure as she revealed in the rush and was always ready for the next jump. She and Harry even started working on the more dangerous jumps, having to more closely gauge the distance to the ground to reduce the amount of time they were using the parachute.

!HPEaSE!

"Everyone get battle ready fast!" Amelia announced as soon as she entered the room. "You have five minutes."

"Right, let's go." Harry leapt into action, followed quickly by the girls.

Amelia was impressed as they assembled in the Entrance Hall in barely more than four minutes. "Good, your target is a mansion. There are several people who will definitely offer resistance. Your mission is to take them all into custody. This is a training mission so no lethal attacks."

Harry relaxed. "You had me worried for a minute. We'll take this seriously but at least we know they won't be trying to kill us."

"I'm glad to hear you're going to do this properly." Amelia nodded. "I've a Portkey to take you to the target. Move out."

"No other details?" Harry asked.

"Not this time. You're going in blind." Amelia stated. "You won't always have the luxury of details."

"Okay." Harry nodded. "Let's go everyone."

They all headed outside and took the Portkey from Amelia. With everyone touching it they activated it and vanished.

Amelia nodded to herself and flooed away.

"Minister Bones, nice of you to see you."

"Madam Marchbanks, are you ready to make your assessment?" Amelia nodded to the older woman.

"Indeed, though this is most unusual." Madam Marchbanks replied. "Who is your friend?"

Amelia looked towards M, her face hidden under the hooded cloak, and smiled. "You don't need to know that. In fact, I suggest you forget about her."

"They're here." Kingsley interrupted them.

The group was in an observation room where they could watch the whole encounter. Harry and his team had just entered the training area and were carefully approaching the house.

"They'll encounter the Wards shortly." Madam Marchbanks commented. "I wonder how they will handle them."

"Quickly." Was Amelia's only reply.

"They've disillusioned themselves." Kingsley commented. "Good."

"And they're through the Wards without tripping them." Amelia added.

"This is where it gets interesting." Kingsley grinned. "Did you tell them what was going to happen?"

"Just that they had to capture 'several people' in the mansion." Amelia grinned back.

!HPEaSE!

Harry shuddered as the feeling of the disillusionment spell as it took effect and quickly opened a hole in the Wards to enter the protected area of the mansion.

"You all know the drill, let's go." Harry stated and set off.

The girls instinctively fell into position and followed, scanning the area for any threats. They easily avoided the areas Harry indicated as being trapped and made it to the mansion safely.

"Front door?" Hermione asked.

"Nah, this window should be fine. There's no one in the room." Ginny grinned as she silenced the glass.

Harry carefully removed the protections from the window and nodded to Ginny who silenced, then broke the window. Hermione vanished the pieces and cleaned the frame so they could get in uninjured.

Harry took a step back and leapt through the window and rolled to his feet, looking around ready for a fight.

The girls quickly followed him in and they began working through the building carefully. It was too quiet, they could all feel it but they still had their task to complete.

"Where are they?" Ginny growled quietly as they confirmed another room as clear.

"Calm down." Daphne gently held her shoulder. "We need to stay focused. But she's right, this is wrong. Is it a trap?"

"Auntie is probably going to throw a few tricks at us." Susan said. "If the entry was quiet then the exit is going to be rough."

"I hope our extra gear will be enough." Hannah unconsciously touched her pack.

"I'm sure it will, we just need to use it right." Tracy assured the girl.

"We should keep moving." Hermione took a deep calming breath.

"Yeah, stay extra focused." Harry instructed. "I think we are going to be tested very hard."

They continued their methodical search of the house and were working through the top floor when Harry stopped and signalled that he sensed something. He guarded the corridor while the checked the last few rooms until they reached the right area and let him take point on the final search.

"That wall." Harry whispered. "I think they're on the other side of it."

"How about we wait here and hit the wall to surprise them." Hermione suggested.

"Okay. Be careful." Harry told them.

Harry led Daphne, Ginny, Susan and Luna back out into the hall and checked the last rooms until only the room Harry was sure they were in was left. He entered the room while Daphne and Ginny followed a minute later. Susan and Luna stayed by the door so they held enough separation to give them freedom in combat. Harry carefully studied the wall in question out of the corner of eye to figure out what had been done.

It was a camouflage ward to hide the people behind it. Harry gave a quick warning signal to the others and felt a little relief that they were now keeping a subtle eye on the wall in question. Until the ward fell to reveal the people behind it. Ten in all.

Despite supposedly being on the wrong side of this ambush, Harry and the four girls had stunned three of the attackers immediately and were engaging the others hard. Susan and Luna moved from the door way to get room to manoeuvre. Then the wall behind the attackers exploded, showering them with debris. Several of them were knocked over and the others shielded themselves from the rear attack opening themselves up to the spells that Harry and the girls kept casting. They had enough distance from the wall to avoid the debris and they knew the attack was coming. They kept focused and stunned and bound each of their targets before relaxing.

"Nice work everyone." Harry complemented them. "Now we just need to... Crap, here comes the rough exit you mentioned Susan. They just brought up a new set of wards."

Ginny looked out the window. "We've got company. Lots of company."

"Can you drop the wards so we can escape?" Padma asked.

"Not easily. There are two layers, a set to block magical movement within the vicinity of the mansion and a barrier type to block exit from the grounds." Harry explained. "Even if I open a path to the edge of the area I still have to tackle the barrier. I get the feeling that one is better anchored too."

"So we do that." Daphne suggested. "We can set up a defence once we get there so we can protect Harry while he works."

"The danger is that they can organise and hit us all at once." Susan replied. "We'll need to reduce their numbers first."

"And hide the bodies so they can't wake them up." Ginny added darkly.

"I think we have to take the fight to them, unless you have a brilliant plan to avoid any fighting at all." Tracy said.

"This really is a worst case scenario." Harry sighed. "Which is probably the idea. I think we're going to have to fight, so let's do it on our terms."

Luna pointed out the window. "There are several groups out there and it's a wide open area on this side so they will have a lot of open area to cover to reach us if we get to the edge of the grounds."

"That would make it harder for them to sneak up on us." Hermione nodded. "And we can do things to trick disillusioned people too."

"So the combat group engage and defeat the ones out there while the support group sets up a defensive area on the edge of the grounds." Padma suggested.

"Sounds good. We can set up traps too, if we have time." Ginny nodded.

"That sounds good." Harry pondered carefully. "I think we have a plan. First I have to take control of the Apparation ward so they can't surprise us."

"Go for it." The girls chorused.

Harry focused and work with the ward surrounding him carefully to alter the keying of the Apparation ward to permit them and block everyone else. The girls kept guard while he worked and their animagus enhanced hearing could detect the sounds of the people entering the building.

"Got it." Harry said finally as the attackers reached the top of the stairs.

"One sec." Ginny pulled a flash bang grenade and attached it to the door frame with a spell. A second spell attached the pin to the door itself. "Right, that should go off when they open the door. Let's go."

Harry glanced out the window and told everyone where their Apparation target was. "Right, move out."

Harry put his own words into action and led their counter-attack. He appeared behind and between two of the groups and strafed them with stunning spells, dropping most before they even realised they were under attack. The nearby groups turned to respond but the four girls timed their Apparation's well, appearing seconds after Harry in the blind spots of their targets. Their prey fell quickly under their rapid spell fire.

The five took a few moments to check around but there were no more targets in sight on this side of the house and their use of silent casting meant that little noise had been made. They quickly bound all the bodies and disillusioned them to make it harder for them to be revived.

Hermione, Padma, Hannah and Tracy appeared on the very edge of the grounds seconds after Harry's departure from the building and began transfiguring the ground to raise the earth and turn it into a stonework fortification and then layered it with protection charms to keep it intact while they were behind it.

Harry and the four girls still spread across the grounds scattered further and laid out several lines of flash bang grenades; carefully orientating the grenades so that the pins were pointing at the defences that were being set up and spelling the main body of the grenade to the ground to keep it in place.

They regrouped inside their defensive fortifications.

"Nice barricade." Harry grinned.

"Thanks." Hannah grinned. "It should hold while you work on the wards."

"I'd better get to work then." Harry turned to the wards and started trying to open a gap for them to pass though. "Man, these wards are REALLY well anchored. This is going to take a while."

"Work fast." Daphne replied seeing a bright flash from an upper window. "They just triggered the grenade Ginny left behind in the room. They'll be hunting for us now and we're pinned in place here."

Harry didn't respond, he was far too focused on what he was doing. All his warding skills were being tested and he was suddenly keenly aware just how much he still had to learn. He was working on pure instinct at the moment; the only advantage he had was that he had lots of experience with that.

Hermione had stepped outside their defences and begun weaving a long spell that filled the open area with a light mist.

"There." Hermione said as she vaulted back over the earthworks. "That shouldn't hamper our line of sight too much but their visibility should be reduced a bit and we can see the mist swirl if a disillusioned person moves through it."

"Nice." Tracy complemented her. "Now what."

"We wait." Daphne answered her friend.

"Oh, that." Tracy grumped a little. "I hate that."

"Join the club." Ginny replied.

The wait wasn't that long but given the tension of the situation each of the minutes dragged like hours. Harry was making progress but it was slow going. Who ever had set up these wards was very good at what they did and had used ward stones to make their work stronger and harder to interfere with. This was the first time he had had to work on such well formed wards and would have enjoyed the experience had it not been a combat situation, simulated or otherwise.

"Here they come." Luna said suddenly.

Her keen eyes had noticed the shifting shadows near the corners of the house on both sides and a short while later, all their remaining adversaries stepped out of the cover of the building and began moving in formation towards them.

"That's a lot of wizards to fight." Hannah gulped.

"Just as well we prepared for them." Ginny added.

"There are some disillusioned ones too, coming in from the sides." Luna said suddenly.

"I see them." Susan nodded. "Daph? Ginny?"

"Got them." "Yes." The two girls replied, Daphne adding. "When you're ready."

Susan let the nearly invisible wizards get a little closer. "Right, in three, two, one, now."

The four girls began casting in unison and the few disillusioned wizards were quickly taken out by their well timed spells as they worked in pairs to drop each of their enemy in turn. It was lucky there were only a small number as the main force used the attack to begin their charge across the grounds.

"I'm about to spring the trap." Hermione told them." Accio pins. Duck in two, one, NOW!"

The girls ducked and shielded their eyes and ears as the mass of flash bang's detonated. Taking a moment to protect their eyes from the blinding light, they girls all stood and began attacking the stunned and blinded wizards as fast as they could.

The wizards had no experience with dealing with the muggle weapon and were easy targets. It was only a minute of rapid spell work on the part of the eight girls before only a few wizards were left. These ones were obviously the most experienced members of the group and as they cautiously approached the makeshift barricade they kept their shields up and split into small groups to protect each other.

"Damn, we have to take the fight to them." Daphne snapped. "if we don't they'll just start reviving the others. Harry, we really need your help right now."

"One sec." Harry grunted as he shifted his efforts from opening a hole in the ward to locking his progress in place so that the ward stones that anchored the array wouldn't begin undoing all his hard work. "Right. Let's go."

"Harry, the middle one in the group on the left," Ginny pointed out, "look at how he moves. I think that's Mad-eye Moody."

Harry looked for a sec. "You're right. I'll have to keep him occupied. I think we can hit the far right group first and reduce their numbers beforehand though."

"Then let's do it before we change our minds." Susan took a deep breath.

"Right." Harry nodded and Apparated out.

He appeared behind right in front and to the side of their first group of targets and launched into the attack while the four girls appeared behind them and added their own spells to the mix. The multiple directions and rapid closure gave their targets no time to respond and they were quickly stunned and bound. The other groups tried to move closer to each other to support each other but they soon found themselves under heavy attack from the four girls.

Harry had a different role. He tapped into his magic directly and jumped rather than Apparate towards Mad-eye Moody. He landed inches away from one of the others nearest Moody and behind a second. Both fell from simultaneous stunner before Harry dived away as Moody's eye managed to pick up his new location much faster than anyone else. Harry was shielding before he hit the ground and was returning fire before he stood.

"Nice moves Potter." Moody complemented before beginning his assault.

Harry didn't even have time to gulp before he was fully on the defensive. He could see why Moody was such a respected Auror, his speed and skill with spells were worth of admiration and his tricks were just plain nasty. Harry was totally on the back foot and they both knew it.

It was unfortunate for Moody that this was Harry he was fighting. Harry used everything he had learnt to stay in the fight; this was his toughest magical fight yet. Moody knew what spells worked best for him and had lots of combat experience to back him up. Harry's only real advantage was his mobility and it served him well. Moody could counter this though through only having to move his arm and a trick where he could spin around on his peg leg. Harry's attempts to alter the terrain to make it harder for Moody to move were quickly countered with an approving gleam in the old Auror's eye.

Harry knew a change of tactics would be needed if he wanted to win and began to plan his counter attack.

The four girls still behind the barricade could only watch a little. Harry's fight with the experienced Auror was too fast and fluid to interfere with and they were too busy helping the others to even try. They could only half watch with mounting worry as they supported the other four girls that were engaging the last of the attacking force. Neither group was making any real head way but they were each keeping the other group sufficiently occupied to prevent them from interfering with the other fight.

Harry spun past another spell as he kept up his attack. This strategy wasn't working. As good as his tutors were up until now, they all lacked the raw battle experience and underhanded nature of the paranoid Senior Auror. There was a reason that Moody had successfully taken down so many of Voldemort's supporters personally and even survived direct combat with the Dark Lord himself. Harry had never fought a magical opponent like this before. The other people who could pull of this style of combat were the Assessor and the Special Forces team, and Hermione's Grandfather. This was a style developed out of pure survival experience.

Harry knew that he had only one way of winning; he had to meet the Auror on equal terms with his own style. Something that everyone else had spent years developing through blood, sweat and near death experiences he now had to do in seconds. It was an impossible task, but Harry had an edge; it was impossible to survive the Killing Curse, it was impossible for a twelve year old to kill a millennia old basilisk, it was impossible for a thirteen year old to drive off a hundred Dementors, it was impossible for a fourteen year old to out fly dragon or survive a duel with the Dark Lord. The impossible was what Harry did best.

They paused. Two duellists facing off contemplating their next move; knowing the wrong one would lose them the fight.

"You're good Potter." Moody said approvingly. "Not many can put up this much of a fight. You've learnt from Shack well. Am I right in guessing that Flitwick and Lupin helped you a fair bit too?"

"Yeah." Harry replied cautiously.

"I thought I saw a few of their tricks in there. I think I saw a little McGonagall in there too." Moody grinned evilly. "But you are going to need to do more than parrot their tricks back at me..."

Moody sent a flurry of spells at Harry, interrupting himself to create an opening. Harry slipped between the spells and sent his own back.

"If you want to win." Moody finished as if he hadn't just broken his own sentence. "You've definitely got talent, but you'll never beat Voldemort like that. You'll never beat me either."

"You're right." Harry straightened and put his wand away. "So let's try something different."

Harry tapped into his power fully and pulled out all the stops. He had mixed his martial arts training with his spell casting a few times in the past by sending punches of wind with his spells. Now he did it in reverse. He adopted a fully martial arts stance and fully merged the two styles of combat as best he could. Fully using his wandless magic he began casting with everything he had. Moody's eyes shot wide as he deflected the incoming spells and returned fire. Harry flowed through his moves as he both defended himself and continued the attack.

Moody had been impressed by Harry throughout the entire fight. There weren't many who could hold their own against him and the few who could we all old and experienced fighters. Now, here was a sixteen year old who was going toe to toe with him and keeping up. Sure he faltered against most of his moves but he still managed to avoid them through impressive reflexes and physique. The problem was that the only threat of the incoming spells was their speed; Moody was used to handling the power from fighting the Dark Lord.

Harry was still in the early stages of learning to fight and it showed. He used moves Moody had seen before having worked with or trained the very people who had been training Harry. Then Harry used one of Moody's own moves against him.

Moody was impressed. He knew that even Voldemort and Dumbledore would struggle to use one of their opponents tactic against them in the very fight they first saw them; for Harry to do so and with such proficiency spoke volumes of the young wizard's true potential. Not every trick was returned, but that was easy to deduce why; the Harry was still building up his repertoire of spells.

His short conversation with the busty redhead was informative too, at no point did Harry's attention waver. He was totally focused on his opponent, relying on his team to ensure he wasn't hit from behind. Moody nearly nodded in approval and had to struggle to keep a grin off his face; he was enjoying this. Only Dumbledore had ever given him this much of a rush in a fight. Then Harry put his wand away and changed his stance.

Moody nearly attacked first as soon as the wand was slid back into Harry's sleeve but something stopped him; this was not a sign of submission. Then raw power surged from Harry and he attacked. Moody was suddenly on the defensive. It was like fighting a completely different person, Harry's rhythm and basic movement had changed. Moody have never seen anything like it before. Even the change in Voldemort or Dumbledore when they turned serious never created a change in their underlying form and style. Harry's new style was far more effective and Moody was put on the back foot as he struggled to keep up.

Harry's assault involved a rapid fire of a range of spells with impressive power and increased speed, even more than he had previously shown. The spells were staggered so that they almost never arrived in the same order that they were cast and he relied almost totally on dodging for defence; and when you could move around the battle field nearly as well as Apparating using pure physical movement, dodging was very affective. What couldn't be dodged was deflective without even disrupting the flow of offensive magic. Added to that were additional attacks that could only just be detected by Moody's magical eye. Harry had been using them previously, the extra attack was one of the things keeping the teenager in the fight, but now they flowed in with the spell casting with greater harmony.

Moody had seen people try to fight like this; they usually died. Only a few exceptionally powerful and talented wizards could ever master this high flow of magic, it was why Dumbledore and Voldemort were so good and were respected and feared in battle.

Harry hadn't mastered it yet but he was already closer than most people got. Moody could easily see many flaws in his style; spell times that were slightly out, a level of fluidity lacking from his movements that only experience could bring. It was this that kept Moody in the fight until he could adjust to his 'new' opponent.

Harry altered his style a little more and closed the gap to engage the grizzled old Auror in hand to hand combat. Moody was no stranger to a fist fight, he used anything to give himself an edge in a fight, but Harry was better trained. Only by using every dirty trick did he keep the younger wizard at bay until he jumped to get distance.

Harry frowned. This was getting him nowhere. Moody was just too experienced and fought too dirty. He couldn't do this alone, not yet at least. He needed a different tactic; and he needed help. Fortunately help was close by, he just needed to free them up to help him.

Harry jumped again and summoned his sword and spun in a wide arc before resuming his bombardment on the Auror. The arc he had spun released a concussive wave of air. It was too fast and wide to do any real damage but the four Aurors fighting the girls were taken completely by surprise and flattened. The girls had seen this before and managed to shield or duck in time but they would be having serious words with Harry afterward about putting them in the line of fire.

Moody also managed to block and tried to jump into the opening Harry had created with his move but Harry's had given him no warning and didn't hesitate to resume the fight properly preventing Moody from capitalising on it.

Moody was now in trouble he realised. One on one he knew he would eventually beat the lone wizard, but it would be close. Now he had five opponents. The four girls had quickly stunned, disarmed and bound their opponents and now moved to assist Harry. They paired up and spread out either side of Harry, making sure that they never moved into a position to risk friendly fire.

Moody backed up to give himself room and keep them all in front of him. Harry might now be constrained in his movements but there were now three different directions that the spells could come from and if their teamwork was in anyway decent then he was in big trouble.

No. He was in really big trouble. Moody was fighting to keep up against five opponents who definitely knew how to work together. It was even worse now, with the pressure off Harry he had the time to really push his magic and over power his spells. Moody's shields were shattering under a single hit from one of Harry's spells and he could feel his reserves draining. He tried deflecting the spells from the powerful young wizard but nearly had his wand knocked out of his hand by the power of the spells.

PAIN. Moody gritted his teeth as a spell slipped though his guard and cracked a pair of his ribs. His breath came in much shorter breaths now and he began to feel like he was suffocating. The pain in his chest prevented him from moving as freely and he knew this battle was lost as a well timed mass of spells gave him no place to go. He managed to shield against several but the rest got through and he was laid out on the ground hard. He tried to sit up again but his arm jerked and pain blossomed in a new location then his world went dark as Harry kicked his wand out of his grasp and hit him squarely with a stunner.

Several more spells and Harry was confident that Moody was out of the fight. "Thanks everyone."

"Thank you." Ginny was panting. "Those four were giving us some real trouble."

"Now what?" Susan asked. "Do we get that group we were originally after?"

Harry looked around. They were all tired and injured. He could feel aches in his own body that told him that he wasn't uninjured either. "No, we break the Wards and leave. We aren't in any sort of shape for more trouble."

Harry chuckled. "If this were a real mission then these guys would be the ones we'd call in to tidy up our mess."

The girls laughed.

"Okay, let's go home." Daphne said.

"Ward's first." Susan grinned.

Harry slumped. "Don't remind me."

It only took Harry another fifteen minutes to break the Wards locking them in and then they activated the portkey that took them home.

!HPEaSE!

"Well?" Amelia Bones turned to the aging Ministry official.

Madam Marchbanks was still trying to grasp what she had just witnessed. "That... that... That was... I've never seen anything like that before."

"Your assessment?" Amelia prodded. "I was thinking that was well above NEWTS level myself."

"Oh I agree, I'll organise their NEWTS Defence Against the Dark Arts certification first thing in the morning with Outstandings. Maybe even their Charms ones too." Madam Marchbanks agreed hurriedly.

"Excellent, I'll let you go." Amelia smiled. "I'm sure you'll want an early start in the morning to get this done."

Madam Marchbanks nodded absently and left.

Amelia turned to the two remaining occupants of the room. "And your assessments?"

"I think they're ready." Kingsley nodded. "They've come together as a team and aren't taking unnecessary risks. I like that they retreated when they had to and didn't stay any longer than needed. They'll do the job without trying to be heroes."

"I agree. They lack experience but are far better than anyone could have expected given their ages and short period of training." M added. "I would prefer for them to train more but I think we are ready to begin looking at missions for them."

"I believe they are still working on finalising some equipment so they're not mission ready just yet but we can began planning missions." Amelia commented.

"Yes, we need more information before we can plan any real assaults." M agreed. "I'll meet with you soon to discuss information gathering."

"Just let me know when." Amelia gave a nod in return.

"I'll take you back." Kingsley offered.

"Thank you." M replied.

"Do you think they have a chance?" Amelia suddenly blurted just before the Auror Apparated the head of MI6 out.

M paused and saw, instead of the serious Minister, a very worried Aunt. She remembered that the woman niece and only remaining family was in the group they had just been watching. "Yes, they have a chance. We have a lot of work left to do to make it better though."

Amelia nodded to herself as the other two vanished, worry not entirely abated. She knew all too well what it was like in the field.


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Harry Potter.

In fact, if you get down to it I probably own very little of the ideas being used in this story. But I am not getting paid for them and have hopefully put them together in a new and interesting way.

Enjoy.

**Authors Notes**

Well, another update. It's taking a while. As much as I want to get the chapters out I really want to keep the quality up.

Thanks to everyone who has been sticking with me all this time.

Thanks also to everyone who has reviewed. I always appreciate constructive feedback.

**Chapter 31**

Harry groaned as he woke. Tracy had done a brilliant job of treating their wounds but they were still sore and his muscles had stiffened overnight.

"Too early." Hermione slurred as she pulled him back into her chest.

Harry sighed and relaxed into her embrace and the soft heat of her bare chest.

Then his alarm went off.

That set off several complaints from the other girls.

Harry extricated himself from Hermione's embrace and turned the alarm off on the way to the bathroom. Sitting on the toilet he finally allowed himself to reflect on the night before. He was glad it was only a training exercise. Occlumency and adrenaline had kept his emotions under control last night but now he was able to reflect.

Fear and panic began to fill him and he began shaking. It took several minutes for him to get his emotions under control again and refocus his Occlumency shields. Back in control Harry reached for the toilet paper, flushed the toilet and went to wash his hands.

"Morning. Toilet free?" Susan mumbled as she stumbled past him.

"Yeah." Harry nodded.

Susan vanished behind the partition and Harry blushed as the tinkling sounds of her doing her business emerged. Harry quickly escaped the room but Susan found him a minute later in the walk-in wardrobe. She was much more awake now and looked at him intently.

"I thought so. You've been crying." Susan said suddenly. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Harry wiped at his face and found tear tracks he hadn't noticed. "Uh, yeah."

"Harry?" Susan gently pushed him to answer.

Harry sighed. "Just reflecting on the exercise last night."

"It was scary wasn't it?" Susan took his hand and began leading him out of his bedroom and into her own. "A little more privacy in here."

Harry nodded.

"So, last night was really scary." Susan began again. "I would have frozen up if you all hadn't been with me."

"I guess it all just hit at once." Harry sat next to her on her bed. "Last night was just a training mission, but it ended up feeling so real. What's a real mission going to feel like? What if one of you gets hurt?"

"That's always been a risk." Susan told him softly. "It scares me too. I know it scares all of us."

"I know. It's just getting so much more real. The fight in the goblin caves was bad enough but at least they were just monsters. Last night was against real people. The coming battles are going to be against Death Eaters, people who will kill us without a second thought."

"It's terrifying isn't it." Susan shuddered. "But what happens if we don't fight?"

"I know, that would be even worse." Harry slumped.

"It's not a good situation to be in." Susan said softly. "We, I, truly feel that as long as we all work together then we can get through all this safely."

"You really think so?" Harry looked at her hopefully.

"I do." Susan hugged him and leant into him gently. "I just know that we'll all keep each other safe."

"Thanks." Harry whispered back.

Susan held him close for a couple of minutes before pulling face and looking at him. Her breath suddenly hitched as he turned to look at her and she was caught by his beautiful green eyes. She knew she was attracted to the wizard; they had kissed plenty of times now while he had been in his male form and the passion she felt for him was undeniable. She leant closer and gently touched her lips to his before she even realised what she was doing.

Harry was a little surprised by the change of mood but didn't pull away from Susan's kiss. Instead it deepened as they both felt their passions rise. Harry gently cupped the back of Susan's head and leant back, guiding Susan to follow. Susan needed only the slightest encouragement to push him flat on the bed and straddle him before kissing him deeply again. Their hands began to roam until Susan suddenly squeaked and pulled back.

"Uh. Sorry? What did I do?" Harry asked, a little worried.

Susan leant in and kissed him again before answering. "Your hands touched my breasts. It's nothing to worry about, I just wasn't expecting it."

"Sorry." Harry said again.

Susan rolled her eyes and kissed him again. "Honestly, I'm not angry. Would you like to touch them?"

Harry turned bright red at that suggestion causing Susan to laugh.

"You were just teasing me." Harry accused.

"Only a little." Susan admitted.

Susan hesitated a moment before taking Harry's hands and gently lifting them to her breasts. She inhaled sharply as she felt his palms against the thin fabric covering her chest. She froze for a moment before she realised how good it felt . With a passionate groan she pushed herself into Harry's grasp, pinning his hands between her breasts and his as she began kissing him again.

Their kisses grew in passion and intensity until Susan had to pull back to get her breath back.

"Wow." Susan panted slightly. "I could get used to that."

Harry's hands slipped down to Susan's hips and replied in a soft voice, husky with passion. "I agree."

Susan pouted slightly and shifted his hands back to her breasts. "It feels good, having you touch me here."

"I enjoy it too." Harry grinned as he began to gently fondle her breasts.

"Touching mine or having yours fondled?" Susan teased through her slightly hitched breath.

"Both." Harry replied, trying to be seductive .

He must have succeeded as Susan's gaze dropped to his own chest. She suddenly seemed to get nervous and a little unsure and her hands seemed to twitch a little. Harry repeated her actions and very gently guided her hands to his breasts.

Susan didn't resist and soon felt the soft warmth of Harry's breasts under her palms as Harry's hands returned to caress her own breasts. Susan sighed happily at the gentle, intimate attention she was getting.

"That feels so relaxing." Susan smiled down at him as she began to mimic his movements.

"I'm glad you like it." Harry said and sat up so he could kiss her.

Susan adjusted her position so they could keep their hands on each other's breasts and still kiss comfortably. "I do. I think I could let you fondle them all day."

"Sounds fun." Harry chuckled then he sighed. "I just wish we had that sort of time."

Susan slumped. "That was a mood killer."

"Sorry." Harry let his hands drop.

"No, it's not your fault." Susan moved off his lap and sat next to him. "It should just be whether or not Hannah is going to walk in on us, not having to worry about meetings about a war."

"I'm sorry you're all getting caught up in this." Harry said sadly.

Susan hugged him firmly. "We chose this. Don't blame yourself."

"I know. I know." Harry sighed. "I just hate the thought of any of you getting hurt. First in the goblin caverns, then last night; and that was just a test. What's going to happen when we're in an actual battle?"

"We'll be better equipped and better trained, and we'll have our allies with us." Susan assured him. "We're going to be fine. Go on, shower and I'll meet you for breakfast."

"I really want to believe that." Harry stood. "Okay, I'll see you soon."

Susan smiled until the door closed behind him, then her expression dropped hard. "I really want to believe that too."

!HPEaSE!

Tracy was the one who was free when there was an arrival in the Entrance Hall. "Oh, morning. Is there a meeting?"

Drake nodded. "Ten minutes. We're going over your training mission from last night. M seemed pretty positive about it so I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"That's good to know." Tracy gave an exaggerated sigh of relief. "I'll go let the others know. See you soon."

Drake nodded and returned through the floo while Tracy headed for the door.

"Hey, meeting at the Military Base in ten minutes. Actually it would be eight or nine now." Tracy told the others as she bounced to the top of the stairs. "They want to go over our training mission."

"Finally, I was beginning to wonder when they'd call for us.." Harry nodded. "I guess we do any last minute stuff to get ready and meet in the Entrance Hall in five minutes."

Everyone agreed and five minutes later they were stepping through the floo to the Military Base.

A short walk put them in the Mission Briefing Room.

"Good morning everyone." M spoke up. "Now we are all here, we'll get started. As you all know, Harry led his group in a training mission last night against some members of the Auror department. Overall they did very well. While they didn't complete their objective, they all survived and defeated an ambush by a numerically superior opponent."

"Congrats." Meyers grinned. "Getting everyone home in one piece is always a good start."

"Hang on, they were ambushed and took everyone one out but didn't complete their mission?" Drake looked a little confused.

"Mr Potter, would you explain and give your version of events." M gestured for the female wizard to come to the front of the room.

Harry flushed a little at being on the spot in front of everyone but managed to speak without stuttering. "Our objective was to capture a group of people in a manor house. We did manage to incapacitate them but were ambushed and pinned in place with some strong wards. We tried to retreat at once but couldn't break the outer wards before the ambushers all caught up to us. We had setup a defensive location and laid out a trap for them and that allowed us to take the advantage and win the fight, though the last five were rather more difficult than the rest.

"We completed our withdrawal at that point as we were all tired and injured, and I wasn't willing to risk my team in another protracted battle."

"A reasonable summary." M commented from her seat. "I discussed this with Minster Bones earlier this morning and we agree you made the right choice there. While it meant that you failed your mission, you were not in a position to risk another protracted battle. Completing your withdrawal and calling for reinforcements was the best option. While there would be the risk of them all getting away, the use of lethal, or potentially lethal, force would have reduced their numbers and effectiveness notably."

"That'll take some getting used to." Ginny sighed. "I know that we'll have to be willing to do that but actually doing it? I dunno."

"It's never easy taking a life, nor should it be." M admitted. "But if it's you or them, make it them."

"Well, that's it from me." Harry sat down. "I guess you get to tell us what we did wrong now."

"Yes, I do." M gave him a stern look. "And the answer is, not much. You're stealth in approaching the Manor was sufficient, your search of the Manor was tolerable and your capture of your targets was well thought out. When the ambush was sprung you correctly reassessed and took appropriate action.

"With some better equipment you could probably have taken your captives with you but I understand the risk of have captives of questionable security with you in the middle of a trap. All things considered, you did remarkably well given the short period of time you've been training,"

"So, we need to work on more gear?" Harry asked.

"You need finish what you're working on first." M replied. "No, I was thinking of getting a few extra people involved. I've already cleared the people on my end. Would those twin brothers you mentioned be available?"

"I think they might be." Ginny grinned.

"Good. Harry, I need you to ward this compound to ensure its safety. The equipment development will happen here so we need the extra precautions from ALL potential adversaries." M stated.

"That reminds me. I need to do some wards at the twins place too." Harry rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I'll ward here first then we can visit them. Hermione, Padma, want to help?"

"Sure." "Please." They replied.

"We'll need to prepare some ward stones." Harry started thinking. "I think the three of us can get them done by the day after tomorrow."

"Good." M nodded. "For now focus on completing your equipment and completing your training. Once that is all done we should have some leads for you all to follow up on. We will try to start you with some more benign ones but there are no guarantees."

Harry nodded.

"Now, I believe that Alastair Moody wanted a word with you regarding your fight." M finished. "I believe Amelia was going to bring him by later today.

"For now, you are going to replay the recording of your training mission and work through it piece by piece. Good day." With that M left the room.

"Right." Mason stood. "Let's go through this and see if we can iron out the last few kinks you have."

!HPEaSE!

"That was draining." Daphne commented as they regrouped back in the Entrance Hall.

"And we'll probably have to do it again soon too." Ginny added as she slumped into a couch.

"It's about lunch time, let's have lunch outside and start on the ward stones." Padma suggested.

"Good idea." Tracy agreed.

!HPEaSE!

They had most of the ward scheme outlined by the time Amelia and Moody showed up. The aging and paranoid Auror was left in the Entrance Hall, staring at the giant skeletal snake. Sally was just staring right back at him, unnerving him immensely.

"Hi, how're you doing?" Harry greeted him cheerfully. "I see you've met Sally already."

"Nice protection you have here." Moody commented, not taking his eyes off the snake.

"Thanks." Harry grinned. "You can back off a bit Sally. For the moment at least."

Sally nodded and slid back into the shadows a little.

"So, you wanted to see us." Harry prompted the two visitors.

"Yes." Alastair Moody actually had to shake himself to get him mind back on track. "I have to say, not much impresses me like that. Now, about last night.

"Overall you did passably well. Given the duration of your training, if what Amelia is telling me is true, then you did much better than could have been expected. Your teamwork was excellent and I approve of the judgement calls you made. It was a good call to get your friends involved in our fight, I doubt you would have won otherwise."

"I didn't think I was getting anywhere with you on my own." Harry admitted.

"True, though there are few that can manage to hold their own against me." Moody told him. "I'm not on Albus' or Voldemort's level but I can survive a round against them so I can tell you how you measure up."

"Okay, how far behind them am I?" Harry braced himself a bit.

"In terms of spell repertoire you are far behind them. In terms of combat ability you're nearly there. The style you adopted in the second half of our fight was something special. It was rough and needed work, but, with practise and if you can get your timings right, it will be enough to keep you in a fight with Voldemort. You'll need to get your speed up but I think you can do it. You have the beginnings of something impressive. Work hard at it. If you need me to assess you again then just let me know."

"Thanks." Harry smiled. "That means a lot."

"Don't thank me kid." Moody chuckled. "You've put the work in, I'm just telling you how it is. You might want to consider Albus as a trainer, if you can actually get him to train you."

"You take issue with that too?" Ginny commented.

"Yes. You should have been training since before Hogwarts but Albus insisted on protecting you from everything and treating you like normal child." Moody snorted. "Normal kids don't need round the clock protection."

"True." Harry nodded. "I'm sure he would be a good trainer if I can get him to actually teach me. Still that isn't your problem."

"No, but I'm going to push him on it anyway." Moody locked both his eyes on Harry. "I think he's wrong on that score."

"Thanks." Harry paused. "And Moody, if I even get the slightest hint of an impression that you are using that eye of yours to look through my clothes, I can assure you that I, and my friends here, will make sure that the only thing that eye will ever see again is the inside of your own colon."

Moody actually blanched under the combined glares of Harry, his girls, Amelia and Sally. "Yeah, don't worry. I'm not suicidal."

"Good to know." Harry relaxed. "Anything else?"

"Just wanted to say thanks for slapping the current batch of Auror trainee's around." Moody grinned evilly. "It's always good to keep their head's on properly. Keeps them from losing them."

"Any time." Harry chuckled.

"Now, you get to work on that style of yours and keep up the teamwork training. They're what's going to keep you all alive in this war." Moody stated. "I'd better get back to doing the same for my little lost puppies."

"Okay, well, it was nice see you." Harry stood. "Please call ahead before visiting again."

Moody laughed his way back through the floo.

"That it?" Harry asked Amelia before she could follow the scarred Auror.

"Yes." Amelia nodded. "I know you when through it in much greater detail with the Special Forces team, you don't need to do that again. Your tactics in focusing on dodging rather than blocking spells is what's needed for fighting Death Eaters so I really have nothing more to add. Other than that I'm really impressed by how far you've come. Perhaps there will be a place for you as a trainer for the Auror's, this these are the sort of results you can produce."

"Thanks."

"You did it, not me. I'll see you later, have a good day all of you." Amelia vanished through the floo.

!HPEaSE!

Harry spent the rest of the day finalising the warding layout for the Military Base and reviewing his Family books for a few extra details. Hermione and Padma focused on getting and preparing the ward stones to Harry's requirements.

This would be the most complicated ward system he had created and he wanted to get it right. It was including several means of hiding the base and land around it along with passive and some light active defences. There were also several levels of detections to ensure that there would be no surprises. The main wards themselves had three distinct areas. External to the base, the base perimeter and the internal area. Each area was linked to different ward stones so that breaching one would have no impact on the others.

It took all the next day and the day after to plan the runic structures to support the warding scheme they had planned before they could engrave the ward stones and charge them so that they would be ready to for use.

The next morning say the small group at the base all out to watch Harry build the magical defences. Once the wards stones were in place Harry began placing the wards and binding them together and to the ward stones. Hermione and Padma assisted but Harry worked solo for the majority of the setup.

It took him most of the day and he had to draw power from the girls to complete the job leaving everyone exhausted but Harry was justifiably proud at his success. He had just created his first large scale ward layout. Taking a few minutes to rest he performed the final act and sank all but one of the ward stones into the ground. The remaining stone was the smallest but would control access to the base.

"A day late but still impressive to watch." M made her presence known.

Even the non-magical people could feel the massive energies being channelled and focused into the wards.

"Sorry." Harry shrugged. "But given the delay was because I finally found a Masking Ward and wanted to work it into the scheme, I think it'll be worth it."

"What does the Masking Ward do? Hide the base from view?" M asked.

"No, but there is an Illusion Ward to make the base look unused and uninhabited." Harry replied. "The Masking Ward hides the Wards themselves."

"Like the ones at my house?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"Yeah, that sort of thing. Not the same exactly but similar." Harry nodded. "It's useful as you have to be much closer to the wards to even notice they're there."

"How much closer?" M queried.

"Dunno exactly." Harry admitted. "A few feet maybe. Without it, it could be as much as a mile or even more. I'm not the best judge as I'm very sensitive to wards these days."

"That is quite the improvement." M admitted. "What made you think of doing that?"

"Two things really." Harry explained. "The wards on Hermione's house was one but the twin's shop was the other. They had a separate ward on a trap door, which made the trap door stand out because it was the only part of the floor that was warded."

"What about that last stone?" Captain Mason pointed.

"That's the access stone. Just put some blood of the people who need access to the area on it. Doesn't need to be much." Harry answered. "There are other ways of doing it but either they aren't as secure or would need the direct action of the Ward Master."

"You in this case I assume." M stated.

Harry nodded. "I figured that you wouldn't want to have to get me involved just to give someone access, but I suggest you secure that stone carefully so not just anyone has access to it."

"And removing people's access?"

"I'll need to do that but there are some intent based wards in the mix. Anyone who betrays you will immediately be ejected from the area and removed from the access list." Harry paused a second. "That was another reason for the delay, it took me, Hermione and Padma a while to figure out how to work all that in together."

"Well, it was nicely done." M looked around. "I'll begin the transfer of equipment. Captain Mason, your team will meet the convoy and drive the trucks in. I'll ensure the second shipment includes the equipment necessary to secure the control stone. I'll also order blood samples taken from each of the personnel to be assigned here."

"You might want to be careful flying in or out, you might not be able to trust the instruments." Harry cautioned them. "I really don't know what'll happen."

"I guess we had better find out." Keller sighed. "We'll take the chopper out and see what happens. Just be ready to get us to safety if something goes wrong."

"Just give me a chance to eat and rest." Harry replied. "You might want to add your blood to the control stone so you can get back in. The internal wards to the base are pretty light to prevent interference with any equipment you bring in. The perimeter and external wards aren't so nice."

Keller blinked. "That's a good idea. Let's do that now shall we."

An hour later and a rested Harry was climbing into the co-pilot's seat of the helicopter assigned to the base. It was an odd experience for the non magical people to cut the their finger and wipe their blood on the stone and watching it be absorbed totally.

"Ready?" Keller asked and he ran his final pre-flight checks.

"Yeah." Harry nodded as he reached for the headset. "Let's do this."

Keller nodded and hit the switches to fire up the engines. The turbines wined into life and the blades started spinning.

Keller checked the instruments one final time. "Here we go."

With that the machine lifted into the sky. Keller got clear of the buildings and then tilted body and moved towards the perimeter.

"Maybe a bit more altitude so we have more time to escape if something goes wrong." Harry prompted.

Keller nodded and made the adjustment. "Anything else?"

"Umm." Harry wracked his brains.

"Too late."

The crossed the perimeter.

Multiple alarms sounded in the cockpit and the instruments went haywire.

"Dammit." Keller blurted.

Harry was about to panic and focused o his Occlumency to lock it down. "Wait, close your eyes and just keep going forwards and upwards."

Keller only managed to spare him the briefest glances but complied.

The helicopter smoothly continued its path and long minutes later the alarms suddenly silenced.

Keller's eyes snapped open. "That was crazy. The wards sent the instruments crazy but not the controls."

"I noticed that, I thought you might have made it worse if you had tried to fight the controls." Harry said.

"Good call." Keller breathed a sigh of relief. "We get taught to rely on our instruments because we can't always see or we can lose track of Up in a fight. That'd be a killer here since that very mentality would cause you to crash."

Keller shifted into a hover and rotated the machine to look back towards the base. "Base looks pretty empty doesn't it."

"Yup." Harry grinned. "Nice to know the wards are working. Ready to go back?"

"Yeah, that'll be an issue though. Without visibility there is the risk of crashing into something." Keller pondered. "We'll have to get M to control the airspace around the base carefully. Dedicated paths in and out at the very least."

Keller forced himself to ignore all the alarms that sounded and manoeuvred the helicopter back to the base. The alarms silenced again once they crossed the perimeter ward and they could see everyone watching them from the ground. Keller easily set the machine on the ground and powered it down.

"No issues then I assume." M said as the pair rejoin the group.

"Well, all the alarms sound but she stays in the air." Keller replied. "I'm not sure I'd want to try it with a more modern bird but these older models are okay. But you have no visibility on any movement within the base airspace until you cross the perimeter so you'll have to control it carefully."

"Understood." M nodded. "If there is nothing else then we still have work to do."

That was a firm dismissal.

!HPEaSE!

"Finally." George jumped up from behind the counter and hurried to the door of the shop. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about us."

"Nope, just been busy." Harry replied. "When you closing up?"

It had taken less than a day to prepare for the wards for the twin's shop; they were much simpler wards, basically a cut-down version of what had been done at the base. The limitations of it being a shop in Diagon Alley reduced the complexity of the wards. It had taken a few hours to hunt down the extra intent based wards that would be needed to allow shoppers though, which is why it was a couple of days after the warding of the base that they could now ward the twin's shop.

"Half an hour, or when the last person here leaves, whichever is first." George said.

Harry nodded. "Got someone to mind the store while we talk business?"

"No sorry. Lee and the girls have gone already." George answered. "Unless one of your lovely ladies is willing to volunteer..."

"Oh all right." Ginny huffed. "You go talk with Harry, I'll mind the store."

"Thanks Gin-Gin." George grinned.

"Don't call me that." Ginny smacked him across the back of the head.

"Ouch. Sorry." George rubbed his head. "Come on Harry."

The two headed out the back of the store where Fred was looking through some books.

"Hey Harry." Fred greeted him. "How's things?"

"Good." Harry sat nearby the twin. "And things are looking up for you as well. There is a place where your talents will be required. You know that higher level I mentioned before? This is your shot at it."

The twins lit up. "Seriously? This is going to be so cool."

"I'll need some of your blood to key you both into the wards and I'll take you there tomorrow so you'll be able to find the place." Harry explained. "You'll be working with non-magical people and they're going to be a bit different to you so you'll need to leave your prankster natures here."

"Pity." Fred pouted a little. "But it sounds like it'll be worth it. Are we really okay to be working with muggles though?"

"Non-magical," Harry corrected, "and yes. Amelia, Minister Bones, has approved it. She wants a better working relationship with certain areas of the non-magical government; particularly around protecting people against Voldemort and others like him."

"Well, that is serious work." George admitted.

"But creativity will be required so it should be right up your alley." Harry grinned. "The people you'll be working with are moving their equipment into the workshop as we speak. You both will have your own area there but you'll have to work together with them closely."

"That's something at least." Fred conceded. "Now, about our wards?"

"I'll get started as soon as you close up shop." Harry told them. "Should give you some pretty good protection."

"Thanks." The twins told him gratefully.

"Can you give us an idea of the sort of things we'll be doing?" Fred asked.

"Developing equipment for a joint magical, non-magical combat team." Harry answered. "Things to incapacitate large groups of people, distractions. Maybe some combat stuff too. I'm not sure exactly. A lot of it's going to depend on things we are yet to find out. I bet that you're going to have to find solutions to problems pretty damn fast though."

"Sounds like a challenge to our inventive natures at least." George grinned. "Pity it couldn't be more prank related as well."

"I'm sure you'll find a way to include that sort of thing." Harry grinned back. "Maybe not in that line of work but I bet that you'll find some things could be modified to have a prank version."

"I guess we'll take that then." Fred said.

"Better than nothing." George added.

"So, how's business been?" Harry changed the subject.

"As good as can be expected really." George shrugged. "These are dark times and people tend to stay home where they feel safer."

"We are still turning a profit though," Fred added, "even with our research costs; so we have no reason to complain."

They chat on for a few more minutes before Daphne poked her head through the doorway. "The last customer just left."

"Thanks." Fred smiled at the Slytherin girl.

Harry got to work setting out the ward stones and began weaving the wards. It took him an hour to fully activate the ward sequence and he sat down to rest once he had finished.

"That takes a bit of work." Harry admitted.

"I'm impressed you're still standing." Fred stared at him. "That was more magic than Gred and I have combined and you aren't even sweating."

"You mean you hadn't figured out that I'm a bit more powerful than other wizards?" Harry chuckled.

"Not that much more powerful." George admitted.

"Does it really matter?" Harry asked.

George pondered the question. "I suppose not. Does give me more confidence that you'll beat old Moldy."

"Not that we ever doubted you could of course." Fred added hurriedly.

"Oh, of course." Ginny taunted her brothers.

"So, can we treat you all to dinner?" The twins said in unison.

"Thanks but no, we have other plans." Daphne replied.

"Just let me get that last little bit done first." Harry stood. "Should only take another half hour. I'll need you both close by so I can key us into the wards. If you want someone added or removed then you'll have to get me to come in."

"Fair enough." Fred nodded. "Probably safer that way too."

A little over half an hour later saw the group saying goodbye to the twins and heading to the Apparition point. A quick stop at the military base to key the twins in later and they were heading home for dinner and a well deserved rest.

!HPEaSE!

They didn't get the rest they wanted. They had barely sat down to dinner with Hermione's parents when Dobby made an appearance.

"Sorrys to disturb you, Master Harry." The elf said apologetically. "Mister Dumbledore is here to see you."

Harry sighed and looked longingly at the enticing meal before him. "No. He shows up with no warning at all? Unless someone is dying he can wait. Tell him to come back in the morning. At the very least it can wait an hour, but it had better be pretty important if he doesn't want to get hexed."

Dobby nodded. "I tells him."

"Thank you Dobby." Harry smiled at the elf.

Dobby popped away and returned a minute later. "Hes said hes to come back in an hour."

"Well, he thinks it's important at least." Hermione commented.

"Question is will we agree?" Harry replied. "Thank you Dobby. Have you and Winky eaten?"

"Yes, wes has." Dobby nodded. "I's best be getting back to work."

"Anything interesting?" Harry asked.

Dobby nodded vigorously. "Winky is wanting a herb garden so I is planting one in World Room. I is protecting a small area in a corner."

"Nice." Harry smiled.

Dobby beamed and popped away.

"He seems happy." Harry smiled.

"Yes, Winky seems to have calmed him down a bit too." Ginny added her own observation. "What do you think Dumbledore wants?"

"I don't know." Harry shrugged. "Guess we'll find out in an hour. In the mean time let's not spoil this lovely dinner by discussing him."

They all agreed with that statement.

Harry knew that Dumbledore would have issues with being made to wait but dinner was far to delicious to risk being ruined by whatever the again wizard wanted; especially given is obviously wasn't a life or death issue.

Dumbledore returned exactly an hour later. Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Hermione's family had finished eating and were relaxing in the lounge together, taking an evening to be a family for a change.

Harry headed to the door with Hermione and Ginny following him when Dobby announced Dumbledore's presence at the door.

"I see you're taking advantage of knowing where the Apparition point is." Harry stated.

"Are you going to keep acting like a petulant child?" Albus replied.

"I'm not, but neither am I at your beck and call." Harry countered. "Since the matter you came about wasn't a matter of life and death I decided that it could wait until after dinner. I've had a busy day and needed to eat and rest. Now, what issue has arisen that can't wait until the morning?"

"There is someone I want you to come and see with me." Albus said.

"Is that all? That couldn't wait until morning?" Harry snapped. "Who is this person?"

"I'm hoping to convince him to be our potions professor." Albus explained.

"I'm still not seeing the point of this rush." Harry glared.

"Well, he is trying not to be found. I know where he is at the moment but he could have moved by morning." Albus added.

"I'm still not seeing the issue, if he doesn't want to be found that much then would be any use as a professor; though, that having been said, he couldn't be much worse than some of your other hires." Harry refused to back down.

"Horace is a skilled professor, he taught your parents. I'm hoping to get him back out of retirement now that Severus is no longer allowed in the castle." Albus explained.

"Horace? Horace Slughorn?" Harry asked.

"Yes actually. You've heard of him?" Albus seemed a little surprised.

Harry glanced at the two girls with him but Hermione had already run off. "Just give us a few minutes to get ready."

Albus frowned. "What are you planning?"

"Do you promise not to interfere?" Harry countered.

"I can't make that promise without knowing what you are planning on doing." Albus said sternly.

"Then I guess you wait and see." Harry turned around. "Wait here."

Albus blinked as the door was shut in his face.

When the door opened several minutes later Harry was accompanied by several extra people. Daphne, Susan and Luna had joined Hermione and Ginny. Kingsley, Hestia and Tonks were bringing up the rear.

"Alright Albus, where are we going?" Kingsley demanded.

"Why are Auror's needed to hire a teacher?" Albus looked confused.

"You're the one who demanded that I always be protected." Harry had to hide a grin. "Now you're complaining that I'm doing just that."

"I will personally see to your safety, Harry." Albus tried to assure the him.

"So I want to be a little extra cautious, you can't criticise me for that." Harry replied.

Albus sighed. "That's true, but I doubt that is the actual reason."

"It doesn't matter." Harry stated. "Let's go."

Dumbledore sighed again and nodded. He gave them the Apparation coordinates and they all vanished from the Granger's front yard.

They all appeared at the entrance to a short street.

"So, what is your plan?" Harry asked.

"Well, Horace is a bit of a collector." Albus explained.

Kingsley chuckled. "That's an understatement. He collects people, or rather he has contacts with people in high places and uses his contacts to help people to get them in his debt and then collects by way of gifts and inclusion in highly profitable investments and the like."

"So you're using my Boy-Who-Lived credentials to entice him." Harry guessed.

"There is that." Albus admitted. "Your mother was also a favourite student of his."

"Ah." Harry nodded. "So, which house is he in?"

"That one." Albus pointed down the street.

"No wards. A muggle house?" Harry studied the indicated building.

"Probably." Albus admitted.

"His?" Kingsley queried.

"Probably not." Albus sighed.

Harry shook his head. "Let's get this over with."

Harry followed Albus to the building while the girls and Aurors spread out to surround the building.

Albus knocked at the door and waited. "I don't think he is going to open the door."

"Umm," Harry started as he watched Dumbledore pull his wand, "isn't this breaking and entering?"

"Well, we aren't going to break anything, nor are we going to steal." Albus replied.

"I'm sure you're about to break at least one law though." Harry said. "I'm going to have to report you to the Aurors."

"I think they will understand." Albus chuckled as he opened the door and led the way in.

The interior of the house was appalling. It looked like the house had been trashed. It also looked totally deserted. Harry frowned and focused his senses in case the person who did the damage was still around. He could sense magic in the room but wasn't sure what sort.

"Well?" Harry prompted.

"Yes, it does look like Horace has been taken." Albus agreed.

"Not by Death Eaters though, they would have burnt the place and attacked the neighbouring houses." Harry said.

"You have a point, they aren't usually this restricted in the damage they cause." Albus replied. "But I think we will find that things are not as they appear."

Harry scanned the room carefully. "That sofa chair looks a little too intact."

"I agree." Albus chuckled. "Come on out Horace, your hiding place has been discovered."

There was a pause then the green chair stood up and turned into a wizard.

"Horace Slughorn I presume." Harry looked the wizard over.

"Indeed. And who are you young lady?" Horace said ingratiatingly.

Harry blinked and realised he was still a girl and shifted form. "Harry Potter, I believe you've heard of me."

Horace laughed. "Indeed I have. You're parents were students of mine. Your father was a good student but your mother had exceptional talent. Have you inherited her talent for potions?"

Harry shrugged and sent a silent signal to the others. "Perhaps, but the previous professor wasn't the easiest to learn from. I also had a few issues that I've dealt with so I'm hoping that the coming year will go better."

"Always strive to improve yourself." Horace nodded. "I understand you're a skilled Quidditch player too. I have several contacts in the professional teams if you'd like to see how you stack up."

"I think I already have a standing offer for a tryout with the Harpies." Harry replied.

Horace laughed. "I bet there is a story there."

"Yah." Harry sighed.

"So, Albus, still trying to get me to teach?" Horace turned his attention to the aging wizard. "I've already said no."

Suddenly Horace froze and Kingsley removed the disillusionment charm from himself.

"What's this about?" Albus demanded.

"Auror business." Kingsley stated. "Wards please Harry."

Harry nodded and quickly brought up some Apparition and Portkey wards to prevent Horace from escaping. The rest of the girls entered and took up positions at the two doors.

"Would someone please explain this to me?" Albus repeated.

"Probably the same thing you're trying to do, we can just be more direct." Harry answered.

Horace was quickly relieved of his wand and tied to a chair.

"Now, Horace, we need to have a few words with you." Kingsley stared the older wizard down.

"I haven't done anything wrong." Horace protested.

"That remains to be seen." Kingsley stated. "Now we need to ask you some questions. You can answer them, or we give you Veritaserum and you tell us anyway."

"This is an abuse of power." Horace shouted.

"I have to agree." Albus said.

"We have been authorised by Minister Bones so your protests are pointless." Kingsley countered.

Horace gulped. "What do you want to know?"

"Probably the same thing as Dumbledore." Harry spoke up. "You, Tom Riddle and Horcruxes."

Horace Slughorn turned completely white. "I don't know anything."

"I guess we need the veritaserum then." Kingsley sighed. "And we might need to discuss why you're in a muggle house."

Horace gulped as he watch Kingsley pull out a vial of clear liquid.

"Last chance. After this I do whatever I need to. Minister Bones would prefer that I don't resort to Unforgivables, but she's okayed it if nothing else works." Kingsley commented. "Care to open wide or are you going to make me force it down your throat?"

Horace fainted.

"Honestly." Kingsley rolled his eye as he woke the potions master. "Fainting isn't going to help you."

"I'll talk." Horace blurted.

"So, start talking then." Kingsley ordered.

"Tom talked to me about Horcruxes when he was my student." Horace started babbling. "He was doing some research and had come across them and wanted to know more."

"And you told him." Kingsley guessed.

"Yes. I never believed he could become... what he became." Horace took a deep breath. "He raised the idea of having multiple Horcruxes."

"Did he give you a number?" Kingsley pushed.

"Seven." Horace closed his eyes. "I'm a dead man now aren't I?"

"Not yet, but you're obviously hiding from him because you're the only person who knows he might be using them and how many." Harry reasoned.

"Yes." All the fight had left the wizard's body. "A Horcrux will prevent the soul from passing on and are hard to destroy but there are ways. They need to be protected. They are better protected if no one knows of their existence."

Horace slumped in the chair. "What will happen to me now?"

"Well, I wish I could lock you up for blatant stupidity for telling someone about a dark artefact like a Horcrux." Kingsley said. "Damn annoying that sometimes."

"You-know-who is going to hunt me down and kill me." Horace whimpered.

"Well, Dumbledore keeps saying the Hogwarts is the safest place around." Harry grinned. "And you can't be a worse teacher than Snape."

Harry's expression suddenly turned dark. "Of course, if you share that sort of information with someone again then you'll have bigger issues than Voldemort to deal with."

Horace gulped. "Right. I guess you have a new professor Albus."

Albus didn't respond right away and everyone looked over to see why. Harry was standing next to and a little behind the aged wizard. It took people a minute to realise that Harry had his wand firmly in the old wizard's back.

"We done here?" Harry asked.

"Yes, and thank you for taking the job, Horace." Albus finally spoke. "I'm sorry it was under these circumstances. Was that really necessary Harry?"

Harry backed up and put his wand away. "Yes, you would have gotten in the way."

"Forcing him to tell is not the way to do things." Albus scolded.

"And how long would it have taken your way?" Harry snapped. "All year? Let me guess, you've already tried and failed and were planning on getting me to weasel it out of him at some point without telling me just how critical that piece of information was."

"That is uncalled for." Albus frowned.

"On the contrary, I think you've been in charge so long you've gotten used to people NOT calling you on stuff. So used to it you don't think they should at all."

"I've never said I was perfect." Albus replied.

"True, but you let people assume it." Harry turned away. "And you never let people know anything you don't think they absolutely need to. How much better would your plans be if you actually got other people involved? Perhaps they could spot your mistakes BEFORE you make them."

Harry walked out, his girls following closely.

"He has point Albus." Kingsley spoke into the sudden silence. "You've always kept things far too close. I think you've lost your focus. The problem there is that it's everyone else who's going to suffer."

Kingsley turned to Horace. "Now, Mr Slughorn, I suggest you fix this place up 'exactly' the way you found it , gather your possessions and head with Albus to Hogwarts before I arrest you for Breaking and Entering."

Horace gulped and hurriedly got to work.

!HPEaSE!

"Calmed down yet, Harry?" Hermione asked when they got home.

"I wasn't angry." Harry surprised them with his calm voice. "Frustrated with Dumbledore but not actually angry. I have more important things to focus on."

"True." Hermione agreed. "It looks like our guess was right. He was aiming for seven Horcruxes."

"And we've destroyed five, just two more." Ginny grinned.

"Yes, but we still need to determine what they are." Daphne sighed.

"I still think we need to look for a Ravenclaw item." Tracy spoke up.

"I agree, but we need locations more than items." Harry sighed. "We're going to have to do a serious search of Hogwarts to make sure one isn't there. I really hope Dumbledore has some ideas, if we can get him to share them."

"True." Susan nodded. "I have one question though; are there six items we're looking for or seven? I wondering if he would have kept a portion for himself."

"That's very probable." Daphne pondered. "But was Harry an intentional one? Could he have made seven without realising he had made an extra one?"

"I think we are going to have to question Dumbledore very carefully when we get back to school." Luna stretched. "He's had years to work on this, we should find out what he knows."

"Maybe he will be willing to work with us now that he is being left behind." Padma suggested.

"We can only hope." Hermione replied. "We can only hope."

!HPEaSE!

With the end of August upon them, the girls altered their focus slightly to prepare for their return to Hogwarts. Daphne and Hermione got some trunks and carefully enlarged the interiors. With the extra space they could have a portable gym, potions lab, workroom and storeroom. They weren't going to finish everything before school started and needed space to continue their work. When they were finished Harry carefully warded the trunks to protect them and their contents from any intrusion.

Hermione's parents were getting a little sombre; they had enjoyed having their daughter close for the entire summer and being more involved in her and her friends lives. The girls were having their usually end of holiday grumps. Even Hermione who loved learning wasn't looking forward to their return the castle.

Harry even found himself dreading the start of school; a new feeling for him. Never before had he enjoyed his summer holiday so much; never before had he not wanted it to end.

There was one more event that required their attention. The Assessor sent Harry a message for him and his ladies to come to Gringotts on the evening of the 31th of August for a special event. They were a little curious as to why they needed to go but were looking forward a visit that didn't involve a fight for their lives.

Given it was a special event the girls all dressed up. They tried to get Harry to dress up too but he made a valid argument; as a Master Warrior he needed to dress the part. As such he was in nice pants and shirt with a long jacket and his sword slung across his back.

They stepped through the floo directly to the bank and were led through into the corridors deeper within the bank where wizards seldom, if ever, got to go.

They found themselves in a large, heavily decorated chamber that was filled with goblins. At the far end was a raised dais with a throne. Looking closely Harry was pretty sure that the goblin seated on the throne was Goldhorn Gringotts, the goblin leader. They were led to a position near the front where they settled into their seats.

Once they were in place Goldhorn rose and began speaking. He spoke in Gobbledegook preventing the wizards from understanding but this was obviously a ceremony to reward those goblin warriors who distinguished themselves in the battle earlier in the summer and to honour those who fell in the defence of their home.

Harry was a little surprised when Goldhorn began speaking English.

"I would like to give out one final set of awards." The goblin leader addressed the assembly. "Our relationships with the humans has always been tenuous at best, even more so in recent years. As such it has come as a great surprise to encounter humans who are worthy of our respect.

"Harry Potter and his ladies proved themselves to be exemplarity individuals when they came to our aid in our time of need. They did not hesitate, no instead they readied themselves and their allies for battle and came with all possible haste. Their small party fought, without any additional support, through the caves that had been taken by the invaders to join us in defeating them.

"I feel that I can say, with total honesty, that without their assistance the battle would have cost far more unnecessary loss of life."

Goldhorn gestured and The Assessor stepped forward carrying a box. "Master Warrior Harry Potter, please lead your ladies up here."

Harry blinked and, with a quick glance at his girls, hesitantly stepped forward and walked up to the dais.

Goldhorn opened the box."For your ladies we have the these blades. They are not goblin metal but we have enchanted them heavily and hope they will serve you and your daughters well."

The Assessor handed out a short sword to each of the girls. The ornamental sheaths were decorated with precious metals and jewellery. The girls thanked the two goblins profusely as they each accepted the gift and secured their new weapon to their waists.

"Master Warrior Potter," Goldhorn addressed Harry directly, "you are a catalyst who has brought us to this juncture. If the Daily Prophet is to believed, which I normally doubt, you are the one with the potential to win the war that is threatening to destroy the Magical World. Our ties to the Ministry of Magic are too volatile at present to offer you our support so instead I offer you these."

Goldhorn reached into the box and pulled out a long bundle and two much smaller ones. "These weapons are truly a symbol or my hope to improve relations between the Goblin Nation and the Human World. They are forged from goblin metal but in a human style; a first for us I assure you. They are a gift from the Goblin Nation and myself to you Master Warrior Harry Potter and to your clan for as long as your descendants live. Take them and wield them with pride and honour."

Harry accepted the longest bundle and carefully unwrapped it.

"I consulted with John regarding the best style of weapon and he even knew a human blacksmith who could help. That human didn't know who he was dealing with but assured us this was the best weapon he has ever worked on. Our smith learned a lot from him." The Assessor spoke quietly.

Harry finally unveiled the blade and marvelled at the magnificent katana he had been gifted. Unlike the girls weapons this sword was without jewellery, just a fine bright red cloth wound intricately around the sheath. The small cloth wrapped items were also Japanese style blades, much shorter but still over a foot in length and decorated to match the main blade.

"I can't thank you enough for these magnificent gifts." Harry bowed to the Goblin Leader. "You have honoured myself and my closest friends more than I have words for."

"You and your ladies honoured us by coming to our aid and asking for nothing in return." Goldhorn replied. "It has been an pleasure meeting you and I look forward to learning of your future exploits."

Harry followed the lead of the goblins he had seen on the dais to receive gifts previously and bowed again before heading back to his place in the audience. The girls followed his lead and bowed before following him.

Goldhorn gave only a brief final speech before the ceremony ended. The Assessor made his way through the crowd of goblins to join the humans.

"You did well up there, all of you." He told them. "I am proud to call you my student Harry. Proud enough to extend an invitation to give your ladies a few lessons on using their new blades, though I am sure Philip will have some pointers for you as well."

"I'm sure he will." Hermione grimaced. "No offense, but I don't think I'm looking forward to that."

The Assessor chuckled. "No, as skilled as you are you are not Warriors. But there is nothing wrong with that; it just means your primary skill set is elsewhere.

"Now, there is to be a banquet shortly. You are welcome to stay, though I imagine there will be little food here to your liking. You will not be insulting anyone if you chose to leave now."

"Thank you." Harry nodded. "I think that we should. We have to return to Hogwarts tomorrow."

"Yes, of course." The Assessor nodded. "I'll see you out. I'm a little old to partake in the ruckus these banquets generate."

"Sounds a little rough for our tastes." Harry commented.

The Assessor laughed. "I imagine so. Come, let's get you all home."

The aging goblin led the group out of the out of the massive chamber and through the corridors.

Harry pondered something and decided to speak up. "I hope my question doesn't offend you but why was only us invited and not the others who helped us that day?"

"I wondered if you would ask." The Assessor answered. "The ties between our people are tenuous at best. It is as much our fault as yours, though few on either side would ever admit it. You Harry, have been accepted as a Master Warrior and your ladies are bound to you to make a cohesive group. It was this group that was invited. The others were external to that group, invaluable allies but still external. Goldhorn pushed the boundaries of my people's acceptance of humans today by inviting you and giving you all gifts. His gift to you Harry is particularly important, never before has a goblin weapon been given to a human clan."

"Yes, goblins have an odd, by human standards at least, view of property ownership." Ginny commented. "Aunt Muriel has often complained about a tiara she owns that the goblins claim she has stolen."

"Indeed, humans believe a sale is permanent while goblins see it as for the life of the receiver." The Assessor said. "It has caused many conflicts in the past. I like to believe I have sufficient wisdom to see both sides but it is an ideological issue with no middle ground. "That is why you gift is so important Harry. It was a gift not to just you but to your clan. That blade is yours to keep and to hand down to your children. Never before has a human received such a gift. Not even Godric Gryffindor who was also named a Master Warrior for his prowess in battle."

"Wow." Harry stared at the blades in his hands. "I didn't realise they were so important."

"They are." The Assessor told him. "Goldhorn took a huge risk in acknowledging and rewarding you in this way. I personally am very sure his gamble will pay off but others won't be."

"I'm not sure what to say." Harry said.

"Then don't say anything. Just stay true to who you are." The Assessor clapped him on the back. "That is the person I believe can heal our world."

"I feel like a huge amount of pressure is being placed on me." Harry sighed.

"No, I think it will be just you and your ladies doing what you believe is right and listening to others in the process." The Assessor smiled. "I have faith in your innate honesty and sense of right. Well, here we are, enjoy the rest of your evening and good luck with everything. If you ever need an extra blade, please let me know."

"Thank you." Harry nodded. "Enjoy your celebration as well."

The Assessor chuckled and watched the group leave the bank. 'Yes, they are definitely my favourite humans.'

!HPEaSE!

Even Hermione had to admit that having the two elves was useful. They had done the actual packing of the trunk, all that Harry, Hermione and Ginny had to do was select their clothes and a few extra items they wanted to take. Having the unexpected goblin ceremony on top of everything else they had been working on had left them with less time than previously expected.

It still resulted in a late night for them; they were still tired when Winky woke them in the morning. Emma Granger had made them breakfast so they could all eat together before they left for school.

"I always hate this time of year." Emma sighed. "You going off and us not seeing you for months on end. You three had better be coming home for Christmas. You can invite your friends around and celebrate together."

"That would be fun." Hermione smiled at the thought. "But this year is a little different; we'll be in and out all year with everything else we have on."

"I know." Emma sighed again. "But still, you're leaving and that will always upset me."

"Mum." Hermione protested.

Harry was smiling wistfully.

Emma noticed. "It's even harder this year because now we have Harry and Ginny in the family to bid farewell to as well."

"Really?" Harry asked.

"Of course. You are technically our son-in-law." Emma grinned. "And our daughter-in-law as well. You are a part of this family now and, whatever you and Hermione decide to do, you will remain a part of this family. This is your home now too."

"Thanks." Harry smiled. "That really means a lot."

"Good." Dan grinned. "That also means that you get scolded or grounded if you don't keep your grades up."

"I'll do my best." Harry grinned back. "I'm sure Hermione will make sure I keep up with everything."

Hermione nodded vigorously.

"Good, now finish getting ready. Tonks will be here soon with a car to take us to the station." Dan told them. "We don't want to miss the train and I'm sure you want good seats."

"Alright. See you shortly." Harry and the two girls stood and headed back to the Extension.

They finished getting ready and did the last bits of packing then levitated their trunks down and stacked them by the front door.

"When is Tonks going to arrive?" Harry asked.

"Another half hour yet." Hermione answered as she checked the time. "What do we do?"

"Want to and go relax in our courtyard?" Ginny suggested.

"That sounds nice." Hermione agreed.

The trio headed out and sprawled out on the deck chairs.

"I'm going to miss this." Harry sighed. "This is the first time I'm not actually looking forward to school. I'm just glad you're coming with me."

"Congrats Harry." Hermione grinned. "You found something normal. Most kids don't like going to school. It's hard for me too, not seeing my parents for so long. Knowing that you would be there was the biggest reason going. Learning magic was second."

Harry smiled at her. "Thanks. That actually makes me feel better."

The pair looked at Ginny who was stifling a laugh and, with nothing more than a quick glance, they pounced at her and began tickling the younger girl into submission.

Tonks arrived with the Ministry car and brought Hestia and Kingsley along.

"Hey Hestia, Kingsley." Harry greeted the unexpected arrivals. "You coming too?"

"Yes." Kingsley nodded. "Tonks and Hestia will be on the train with you. They are teaching DADA between the two of them and will be patrolling the train to prevent any incidents. I'll be taking the car back after you get on the train. The Auror Force are out patrolling several at risk areas at the moment."

"Right." Harry nodded. "Today would be a good day for an attack, and not necessarily on the train itself."

"Exactly." Kingsley's grin showed white teeth in sharp contrast to his dark skin. "It's an obvious target. Too obvious."

"Depends if He wants a shot at me or not." Harry shrugged. "I've got my armour on under this so don't expect me to just run. I'm going to try and get as many on the train as possible."

"I understand." Kingsley nodded. "You help will be appreciated, I know you can handle it. Just don't you dare die on me."

"On you?" Harry snorted. "You don't scare me. I have eight girls who would do all manner of nasty things if I got hurt. THEY scare me."

Hermione and Ginny nodded firmly as the Auror trio laughed.

"Alright, let's go." Kingsley finally got himself under control. "Just you three and your parents?"

"Yes, the others are going with their own families." Hermione nodded.

"Right. Get though trunks loaded. You've a few extra?"

"We're taking some extra stuff to continue our work at school." Hermione explained.

"Harry has his own room so they'll go in there." Ginny added.

Kingsley nodded led the way to the car.

The car got them to the station quickly and easily and they had half an hour before the train was scheduled to depart. They saw the Greengrass and Davis families on the platform already and exchanged a discrete wave with them as they headed to claim a compartment and shift all their trunks on board. Ginny took a window seat and Hermione headed off on perfectly duties.

Harry relaxed into his seat and smoothed his skirt down. He would have preferred jeans but with his second period in progress they just felt too constricting and uncomfortable. They only good thing was the medicine the Emma had provided actually worked so he was coping much better this time. Emma had promised to send a few boxes in a care package for use during the year. Harry wasn't sure how this year was going to go at all. It seemed as though Snape wouldn't be teaching at all this year which he was glad about but the threat of Voldemort overshadowed everything; there was no way the Dark Irritation would miss the opportunity to spy on his with some of his followers kids. Malfoy would have been an obvious choice given his father was in the Inner Circle but that's not to say that there weren't other candidates.

The good thing was that Tonks and Hestia had claimed the next compartment and would alternate their patrols so one of them would be there at all times to support them if needed.

"Hi." Padma smiled as she levitated her trunk in and floated it up to the racks.

"Hey Padma." Harry smiled happily back. He really liked the shy Ravenclaw and she had really come out of her shell over the summer.

"Hey Harry." Parvati stuck her head through the door. "You're looking pretty today. Seen Lavender?"

"Hi and thanks. No, I haven't seen her sorry." Harry replied.

"No problem, I'll keep looking." Parvati vanished down the train.

Padma smiled and sat next to Harry and gently leant into his shoulder. "I'm glad I managed to get here so soon. Have you seen any of the others?"

"Just Tracy and Daphne on the platform." Ginny replied. "It sucks we have to be so distant from them, I'm going to miss them."

"I know you have gotten really close to Daphne." Padma commented. "Nearly as close as you are to Hermione."

"I don't think we're that close," Ginny blushed, "but she's become a really great friend and partner. How about you?"

"Well, there is Harry." Padma smiled at him. "I think I'm about the same with everyone, though if I had to pick one other person, I suppose I'd say Hermione."

"I think you all are great friends." Harry stated.

"We're not saying otherwise." Ginny reassured Harry. "But we are going to find certain ones we have a little more in common with. I'm really close with Hermione and getting there with Daphne, but even though Padma and I are pretty different I like hanging out with her too. Don't worry so much."

"Sorry." Harry ducked his head. "I guess I still have a lot to learn about having friends."

"Yeah but that's understandable." Ginny shrugged. "You just want us all to get along and that's great but we have to find out how we are going to get along."

Ginny leant across the compartment so her face was right in front of Harry's. "But it's great that you're looking out for us." And she kissed him briefly.

Padma blushed a little as she watch Ginny easily kiss the female Harry.

"Your turn." Ginny grinned at the Ravenclaw.

Padma's blush turned much darker but she noticed that Ginny was just teasing her playfully. Still, looking at Harry, it was a nice idea. A very nice idea. Padma decided to be more Gryffindor and leant over the short distance to kiss Harry on the cheek, right next to his lips.

"There, happy?" Padma looked back at the younger red-head.

"Yes." Ginny smiled.

Padma was feeling much braver after her kiss and decided to return the tease. "Do I get one from you now too?"

Ginny's eyes snapped wide and she stared back in shock until Padma started giggling quietly. Ginny dove forwards and began tickling Padma causing her to burst out laughing.

"Stop, stop, stop, please." Padma begged as she tried to fend off the nimble fingers.

Ginny relented and poked her tongue out as she sat back.

Padma calmed down but was still smiling at her successful tease.

Luna showed up next and greeted everyone. She sat in Harry's lap briefly to hug him before sitting next to Ginny. She hopped up though when Neville passed by to hug him and followed him to chat for a while.

Susan and Hannah showed up together and dropped off their gear before leaving to hunt down their Hufflepuff friends. Ron didn't show up until five minutes before the train was scheduled to depart which had Ginny rolling her eyes.

"Hey. Honestly, Mum can be such a pain sometimes." Ron grumped as he lugged his trunk in. "Ginny, Mum wants to see you and Harry... why are you still wearing a dress?"

"It's a skirt, I've told you that before, and it's more comfortable for me at the moment." Harry rolled his eyes.

"But you're a guy." Ron protested.

"Only technically. Honestly Ron, we had this conversation on Ginny's birthday." Harry replied. "Anyway, right now my body is telling me it's definitely a girl."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron asked in confusion.

"You don't want to know." Harry growled.

"Fine, don't tell me. At least you aren't hanging around those two Slytherins."

"Shut it Ron. I happen to like those 'two Slytherins'." Ginny snapped. "You didn't seek to mind them on my birthday when they were in swimsuits."

"Well, they are lookers, but that doesn't mean you can trust them." Ron protested.

"Ron, I've told you before that I can." Harry closed his eyes in frustration. "You know how much I can trust you right?"

"Yeah, of course." Ron nodded.

"I can trust them just as much, okay." Harry looked at him intently. "They have earned that trust differently to how you did but they did earn it. So stop ragging on them; they've done nothing to deserve it."

"Fine." Ron threw himself into a seat.

Ginny shook her head. "Did Mum want to see Harry as well as me?"

"Yeah."

Ginny hauled Harry to his feet. "Come on, you don't want a Howler visiting you in the morning, and neither do I."

Harry grumped as he let Ginny drag him out. Ginny took it easy on him as she knew the aches he was suffering but it was best to get it over with when dealing with her mother.

"Ginny." Molly Weasley exclaimed and pulled her daughter into one of her huge hugs. "How have you been? It's been so long since I last saw you. You made it to the station without any troubles?"

"Hi Mum. I've been great and there were no troubles getting here." Ginny returned the hug. "It hasn't been that long since my birthday."

"I still missed you." Molly protested. "And Harry, you look pretty today."

"Hi. Thank you." Harry stepped back to avoid the offered hug. "Sorry but I'm really not up for that today."

Molly looked hurt. "Harry?"

Harry sighed. "I'm really achy today, getting hugged is just going to make things worse."

"Oh, sorry. Is there anything I can do?" Molly was relieved.

"No, I just have to ride it out." Harry grimaced. "Mrs Granger, Hermione and Tracy have been a big help."

"Well, make sure you see Madam Pomfrey when you get to Hogwarts. She will get you fixed up in a jiffy." Molly instructed.

"I really wish she could." Harry replied softly. He spoke in a louder voice. "I'll see you later Mrs Weasley, at Christmas possibly. We haven't really made any plans on that yet."

"You're welcome to visit any time." Molly smiled. "Have a good term and stay out of trouble."

"I'll try, but history is against me." Harry nodded,. "Bye."

Harry left to let Ginny have a private moment with her mother and got back on the train.

Padma shifted and pulled him down next to her as he re-entered their compartment and gently pulled him to lean into her and began stroking his hair.

"Thanks. That's really relaxing." Harry stifled a yawn.

"Good." Padma replied as she continued her actions.

The train jolted and started moving.

"Here we go." Harry commented. "This year is going to be different."

"That's an understatement." Luna chuckled.

Ginny stomped back in. "Honestly! I know Mum hasn't seen much of me this summer but she nearly made me miss the train."

"I did wonder when the train set off before you got back." Harry looked up as she slid past him to sit back by the window.

"Only just." Ginny said. "Now I have the Prefects Meeting don't I?"

"I think so." Harry nodded.

"Drat. Come on Ron." Ginny stood again. "Let's get this over with."

Ron stood and followed his sister out.

Harry relaxed into the quiet and Padma's attention and felt himself doze off.

Harry woke as people began returning. Susan and Luna returned first, Luna dragging Neville along with her and sitting in his lap to save space. Hermione, Ron, Hannah and Ginny returned after the prefects meeting finished. Ginny protested at Susan for taking her seat but Susan just grinned at her and patted the seat next to her.

"Come on, we can give Harry something nice to look at." Susan winked at Harry.

Ginny laughed and sat next to the busty Hufflepuff. Hannah sat next to her leaving Ron and Hermione with the two seats next to the door.

"So? Exploding snap?" Hannah asked pulling a deck from her pocket.

"Sure." Luna perked up.

It was a fun way to pass the time. Harry didn't feel up to joining in but relaxed as he watched with Padma, the girls chatting about random things.

They had a few visitors during the trip. Most people tried spotting Harry as a girl, though being hidden in the far corner made it difficult for them. Apart from the press releases and the Ball celebrating Minister Bones, Harry had drawn little public attention to himself over the summer. Having shown up as a male had led a few people confused as to how much of the party he had attended. So while Harry's gender change was well known, his female appearance, especially with red hair, was still relatively unknown.

Pansy had slammed the door open to be met with an array of wand as the girls reacted fast thanks to their training. Pansy was flanked by Crabbe and Goyle with Millicent off to one side.

"Potter! What did you do to my Draco?" Pansy screeched.

"Harry did Nothing! Malfoy did it all to himself." Susan snarled back as she stood. "I was there and saw what happened. He was a total idiot and got himself killed. At the very least he would have spent the rest of his life in Azkaban for attempted murder if not executed for nearly starting the next Goblin War. Now get out of here before we make you."

"I wasn't talking to you, Bones." Pansy snapped back. "Just because your Aunt is the Minister now, don't get ideas above station. You're still a pathetic little Puff."

Susan flicked her wrist and sent Pansy sprawling on the floor with a silent hex. "The only one getting above themselves is you. Leave now!"

"Hexing a Prefect? You'll be spending a lot of time in detention." Pansy sneered as she got up again.

"I doubt it." A new voice joined in.

Pansy spun to see Hestia Jones in her Auror robes.

"Since you were the one to barge in and start verbally abusing and threatening them, I think you only got what you deserved." Hestia stated. "I suggest you leave before I decide you should spend the rest of the trip tied up in the luggage compartment."

Pansy glared but turned and stalked off with Crabbe and Goyle in tow. Millicent wait until Pansy was out of earshot before moving to the compartment entrance.

"I'm sorry, she seems to be going off the deep end." Millicent said politely. "May I enquire as to the events in question?"

"Malfoy cast the Killing Curse, inside Gringotts, in front of several senior goblins and my Aunt." Susan stated.

Millicent blinked then paled. "Right. That explains much; he really could have started another Goblin War. Thank you for telling me. And Potter, you look very pretty."

"Thanks." Harry replied. "Have a good day."

Millicent nodded, recognising the relatively polite dismissal. "You too, and thank you for the dance at the ball. I enjoyed it more than I expected."

Millicent was sliding the door closed when she heard Harry's reply. "So did I."

Ron glared at Luna, why did you stick your wand in MY ribs? I wasn't the threat."

"Because you would have gotten angry at Millie and she didn't do anything." Luna stated. "You may think all Slytherins are evil but that doesn't mean we should try and show them the light."

Ron grumped and stood suddenly "Time for our rounds."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Fine."

"Their rounds don't start for a short while yet." Ginny chuckled. "Ron's just running away again. Still, that was better than him getting angry and yelling."

"Yeah." Harry leant back and put his wand away. "What's your take on Millie?"

"She's stuck in the middle of a bad situation and wants to escape it but can't." Luna answered. "If we can marginalise those that support Voldemort then we have a chance to turn the House around."

"Here's hoping." Hannah commented. "I'd like to not have to worry about that at school."

"I think that goes for all of us." Padma agreed. "If Millicent is willing to assist them we might have a real chance."

"We'll have to discuss that with Daphne and Tracy." Harry said thoughtfully. "They'll be the best at planning how to handle the darker elements of their house."

The others agreed and they put aside more serious topics for lighter ones and their cheerful voices eventually lulled Harry into a doze.

!HPEaSE!

Harry jerked away as Padma shook his shoulder. "Huh?"

"We're nearly there and we need to get changed." Padma told him.

Harry looked around to see people standing up and reaching for trunks to get at their uniforms.

"Right. Thanks." Harry smiled at the Indian girl.

"You're welcome." Padma smiled back as she stood to give the others more room.

Harry stretched and stood as well to help them move the trunks around.

"There you go Ron." Ginny 's voice sounded. "Get your stuff and go with Neville to change. We'll let you back in when we're all done."

"What about Harry?" Ron asked.

"Umm, he's a girl right now if you hadn't noticed." Ginny spoke as if to an idiot. "He's not changing where you can perv at him now go before you get hexed."

Ron headed out the door grumbling.

"Honestly." Ginny shook her head.

It was rather awkward with so many people in the compartment but they were used to each other and took turns changing quickly as they rotated all the trunks.

They were all settled and their trunks shrunk down before the train stopped at Hogsmeade station and they joined the flood of students out on to the station.

"Oh." Hermione stopped. "So that's what a thestral looks like."

Harry stopped and looked at his closest friend. "Are you okay?"

Hermione shook her head. "I think so. Thanks to Voldemort I probably would have seen them sooner or later, if I lived long enough. I don't mind seeing them, I just wish I didn't meet the requirements. I do prefer being alive though."

"I prefer you being alive too." Harry gave her a gentle one arm hug.

One of the thestrals seemed to recognise them and looked straight at them. They headed over and gave the skeletal creature a gentle pat before boarding the carriage and being taken up to the castle.

The carriage jolted slightly as it set off and Harry looked forward eager to see the Castle that had been the first place he had ever thought felt like a home. As he stretched his eyes into the darkening sky his other senses followed and the glow of the wards came into view.

"Wow. I have to say the wards here are pretty impressive." Harry said quietly.

"They are the work of many people over the centuries." Hermione heard him.

Harry chuckled. "And I'm sure you can tell me who they all were."

Hermione snorted. "Sorry but Hogwarts, a History doesn't give that detail. But it does say that many of the Headmasters were involved."

Ginny dissolved into muffled giggles.

!HPEaSE!

Separated between their house tables they settled in for the sorting and dinner. Dumbledore made a speech about the attacks over the summer and how he was glad so many were unhurt.

"I notice he didn't thank you for your efforts in that regard." Ginny whispered to Harry.

"He'll probably give the excuse of knowing that I don't want the spotlight." Harry whispered back.

"He can't hide it, it was well publicised to encourage people to take advantage of the offer." Hermione added.

"I wonder how the meeting with him will go." Harry sighed.

"We're going with you, anyone who says otherwise can sod off." Ginny growled quietly but fiercely.

"Exactly." Hermione gave a sharp nod.

"Thanks." Harry gave them both a small smile back.

When they began breaking up after dinner to return to their Houses Minerva caught Harry's attention.

"I guess he wants to see me huh." Harry guessed when the trio of Gryffindor's joined her.

"Correct. The password is Life Savers, a change from his normal theme." Minerva said.

"Actually, they are a type of non-magical candy." Hermione countered. "A small ring, like a miniature non-magical floatation ring, with various fruit flavourings."

"Oh, well. I'm sure you know where to go Harry." Minerva looked surprised by the unexpected information. "Please come see me afterwards and I'll discuss your sleeping arrangements."

"Hang on a sec Harry, we'll make sure the other prefects can handle things and we'll join you." Hermione told him as she hurried to the Gryffindor table to catch the other four prefect and let them know she and Ginny had to meet the Headmaster before returning to the Common Room.

Ginny quickly caught the eye's of the others while they waited for Hermione and were soon joined by Luna, Padma, Susan and Hannah. Daphne had nodded but flicked her eyes at her housemates to indicate she and Tracy couldn't join them.

The group of seven headed out of the Great Hall and up to the Headmasters office, told the gargoyle the password and were soon pushing the door open.

"It is polite to knock first." Dumbledore stated. "And I just asked for Harry to meet with me."

"Well you can meet all of us right now." Harry stated firmly. "And since you asked for this meeting, I preferred to waste as little time as possible. Now, what did you want to discuss?"

"There are two main points." Albus said as he conjured additional chairs. "There is the potion that was used on you by the late Mr Malfoy and the is how we are going to work together to defeat Voldemort."

"Well, the second one is easy." Susan stated. "You tell us everything you know and if you behave then we might be confident enough in you to consult you as required."

"At the very least we believe you need to share everything you know about Voldemort's horcruxes." Hermione added.

"There is also training as well." Harry spoke up. "Even if we take out all the horcruxes we still have to defeat Tom, and he isn't going to be alone. We have to ensure we can take the battle to him and his followers in whatever form it takes and win."

"I have come up with a plan for that." Dumbledore said. "The first meeting will be next week on Thursday evening."

"Will you provide any material for us to review prior to that meeting?" Hermione asked.

"That is what the meeting will be for." Dumbledore assured them.

"You only have one chance at this." Harry stared the aging wizard down. "If you stuff this up we only need to give Minister Bones the word and you, and your entire Order if necessary, will be hauled in for questioning. You don't get to play your little games anymore."

"I assure you, I'm not playing any games." Albus sighed. "Have things deteriorated between us this far?"

"That is entirely up to you," Harry replied firmly, "because I can assure you, we are not playing any games ourselves. Now, Malfoy's potion?"

"Yes." Albus nodded. "Severus has completed his preliminary analysis and his research indicates that the potion would unlock hidden or dormant powers in some way. I would hazard the guess that Voldemort was trying to use the connection to steal some, or all, of your power."

"No, he was trying to retrieve the horcrux in my scar." Harry stared the headmaster down. "Stealing my power would just have been a bonus. When were you planning on telling me that little titbit of information, and what was your plan for dealing with it?"

Albus blanched at the direct accusation. "I assure you, I had only vague theories with no proof regarding your scar. But, tell me, would you have told someone that they had a fragment of one of the most evil wizards in history in themselves and offer no way of solving that issue?"

"So you didn't have a clue?" Harry quirked an eyebrow. "I'm not sure that I believe you. I also think you could have confirmed it and chose not to. You did explain one thing I had been curious about though. Is there anything else?"

"Not at this time. What is the one thing I explained, if I may ask?" Albus asked curiously.

Harry stood. "You were the one who kept pushing the idea of my mother's sacrifice at me."

Harry led the way out.

"Is that how it normally goes?" Hannah asked once they were back in the corridor.

"Pretty much." Harry sighed. "He's an old goat who thinks he's the only one who can find the solution. I just didn't ever call him on it until recently. I think there are very few people who ever question him."

"Right." Hannah nodded. "What did you mean about your mother's sacrifice?"

"Well, Dumbledore has always gone on about my mother's sacrifice providing me with a special protection. It's how I bet Quirrell in my first year and it's the basis of the protections he set up on my Aunt and Uncles house that he put all his faith in." Harry explained. "It looks like it was caught up in the whole potion, horcrux, power stealing thing and did this to me; it was a sort of hidden power.. I think it might be why I have Mum's, Dad's and Sirius' forms as well. They all did die trying to protect me; it sort of makes sense that they all left their mark to some degree."

"I hadn't considered that." Hermione admitted. "That is impressive logic."

"If you had heard him go on about it for five years then it would be at the forefront of your mind too." Harry gave her a wiry smile.

"True." Hermione admitted. "Well, we had best be getting back to our Common Rooms."

"Yeah." Susan agreed. "Night everyone."

Susan gave Harry a short kiss and hugged the others, causing the others to do the same.

"Cheaters." Padma teased Hermione and Ginny as they kissed him as well. "He'll be going back with you two, you're just sneaking extra kisses."

"We aren't sneaking them." Hermione replied in a prim voice that they all knew disguised her teasing reply. "You can see exactly what we're doing."

That got a laugh from everyone as they separated to return to their dorms.


End file.
